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REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS 

OF 

THE COMMITTEE ON 
NAVAL AFFAIRS 

OF THE 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1814 

TO 

MARCH 2, 1833 • 



WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1910 



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REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS 

OF 

.YW* 

THE COMMITTEE ON 
NAVAL AFFAIRS 

OF THE 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 


7 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1814 

TO 

MARCH 2, 1833 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1910 







JUN 18 191Q 

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c4 


13 th CONGRESS, 3 ,d SESSION. 


In the House of Representatives 

of the United States, 

September 21 st 1814. 


A Committee on the Naval establishment was appointed consist¬ 
ing of— 

M r Pleasants, Chairman. 

M r Bur well, 

M r Seybert, 

M r King, of Mass. 

M r Ormsby, 

M r Post and 
M r Ward. 


Members . 


Made October 4 th 1814. 

Read, considered, and concurred in by the House. 

The committee on Naval affairs to whom was referred a resolution 
instructing them to enquire into the expediency of extending the 

E rovisions of the act, entitled “An Act allowing a 
u5voiH(ui5i ounty to the owners, officers & crews of the private 
armed vessels of the United States.” passed on the 
2 nd day of August 1813, to such of the Officers and Crews of Merchant 
Vessels of the United States, as have recaptured, or may recapture 
the same from the enemy, have according to order had the resolution 
under consideration, and thereupon submit the following Resolution: 

Resolved, that it is inexpedient to extend the provisions of the act 
aforesaid, to the case stated in the said Resolution. 


Made November 17 th 1814. 

Read, and ordered to lie upon the table. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs to whom was referred a Resolu¬ 
tion, “instructing them to enquire into the expediency of giving a 
bounty to the owners, officers and crews of privateers, 
armed^Lds fJTene- for vessels of the Enemy destroyed at sea.”—Also a 
my’ S ships destroyed, memorial of George N. Stevenson & others, merchants 
and Ship owners of Baltimore, praying that compensa¬ 
tion may be made to the owners, officers & Crews of private armed 
vessels of the United States, for every ton of enemy's shipping 
destroyed at sea, have according to order, had the said Resolution 

3 






4 


REPORTS AND PEOCEEDINGS. 


[13th Congress, 


and memorial under consideration, & thereupon submit the following 
Resolution. 

Resolved, that it is inexpedient to authorise by law compensation 
to be made out of the public treasury, to the owners, officers & crews 
of private armed vessels, for the destruction of enemy’s vessels at sea. 


Made January 14 th 1815. 

Read, and the resolution therein contained, concurred in by the 
House: Petition rejected. 

The Committee on Naval affairs to whom was referred the memorial 
of Anne Hodgkinson, widow and relict of Peter K. Hodgkinson, late 
of the City of New York, have according to order, 
Anne Hodgkinson ^ a d ^ ga j^ Memorial under consideration, and 
thereupon, 

report: 

That the memorialist represents, that after the declaration of war, 
her late husband entered on board the private armed vessel, the York, 
of Baltimore, and was killed in an engagement with the enemy; that 
after his death, she applied to the Secretary of the Navy to be placed 
on the pension list; her request was complied with, but only as much 
allowed her, as is allowed the Widow of Common Seamen in such cases. 
She prays that Congress would grant to her a further allowance, as 
her husband acted as prize master on board the York, and states, 
that according to the constant usage of the privateer service, prize 
masters rank with, and receive the emoluments of first lieutenants. 
It appears that the late Secretary of the Navy gave as a reason for 
not allowing more to the widow, that prize masters are unknown to 
the laws of the United States, and that he was not authorized to 
grant any thing additional in consequence of that appointment. 
The committee are of opinion that the Secretary was correct; that 
the office of prize master is generally conferred upon experienced 
seamen, in whom confidence is placed, and is matter of private 
arrangement as to pay and emolument between the Captain and such 
prize master. 

The committee see no particular reason for Congress interfering in 
this particular case, and recommend the following resolution: 

Resolved, that the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 


Made January 15 th 1815. 

Read, and ordered to lie upon the Table. 

The Committee on Naval affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
_ . tv , °f Weston Jenkins, in behalf of himself and two 
others 011 en ms & others, inhabitants of Falmouth, Barnstable County, 
Massachusetts; 

report: 

That in the month of October last, a British armed Schooner called 
the Retaliation, of 70 tons burthen, belonging to Liverpool in Nova 
Scotia, whereof William Patton was Master and commander, carrying 




3d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


5 


five guns, and having a commission to cruise against the United 
States, come into Tarpaulin cove, near the town of Falmouth, and 
there committed many depredations, by fitting out armed boats and 
capturing the coasting vessels and small craft of the neighbourhood; 
that after some days the said Weston Jenkins as Cap*, with a Lieutenant 
and thirty one others, formed a resolution to endeavour to take the 
said privateer, or drive her off the coast: for which purpose they 
fitted out a small sloop called the Two friends, with one brass piece 
of Cannon, and some small arms, and thus equipped went in search 
of the privateer, which after having found, they succeeded in cap¬ 
turing after a short skirmish: That the prisoners have all been 
delivered to the proper officer of the United States; and the papers 
of said privateer, to the Clerk of the district Court, where the said 
Vessel, her apparel, tackle and furniture have been condemned to the 
United States as droits of admiralty, in consequence of the said Weston 
Jenkins not having had a commission to cruise against the enemy. 
This circumstance was produced by the haste with which it was 
necessary to fit up the Sloop, and the distance of the officers of the 
L nited States from whom the proper authority could have been 
obtained; all the foregoing facts are certified by the Attorney, the 
collector and the Judge of the District: The petitioners pray that 
distribution of the captured property may be made among them 
upon the principles of distribution recognized by the Acts of Congress 
authorising the private ships of the United States to capture the 
Vessels of the enemy: the Committee think the prayer reasonable, 
and that it ought to be granted; for which purpose they ask leave to 
report a Bill. 


Made January 27 th 1815. 

Read, and ordered to lie upon the Table. 

The Committee on Naval affairs to whom was referred the memo¬ 
rial of Uriah Brown together with the report of the acting secretary 
Uriah Brown Navy, have according to order, had the said 

memorial and report under consideration, and there¬ 
upon submit the following, 

report: 

That without pronouncing a decided opinion upon the plan pro¬ 
posed by the memorialist for destroying by fire the vessels of the 
enemy, the committee have no hesitation in supposing that a com¬ 
position adequate to that end may be prepared; they think however 
that many difficulties would be presented to the execution of such a 
plan, as it is represented by the memorialist, that to be able to effect 
it, the vessel carrying the materials, must approach within three or 
four hundred feet of the vessel to be attacked; the memorialist sup¬ 
poses that fifty thousand dollars would be necessary to carry his plan 
into execution: The Committee taking into consideration the present 
situation of the finances; the large sums appropriated, and proposed 
to be appropriated upon experiments for port and harbour defence, 
which they hope will eventuate successfully, but which have not as 
yet been tested by experience; think it would be inexpedient at this 
time to authorise an appropriation for the purpose proposed by the 
memorialist. 



6 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[13th Cong., 3d Sess.] 


Made January 30 th 1815. 

Head, and concurred in by the House. Petition rejected. 

The committee on Naval Affairs to whom was referred the petition 
of Joseph G. Roberts, have according to order had 
Joseph g. Roberts. petition under consideration, and thereupon 

present the following, 

report : 

The petitioner states that he is a Surgeon in the navy of the United 
States and as such was attached to the squadron on Lake Erie, com¬ 
manded by Commodore Perry; that whilst the squadron lay in port, 
the men becoming sickly a hospital was established on shore, and the 
petitioner placed over it as surgeon; that whilst discharging his duty 
on shore, the action on the Lake took place on the 10 th of September 
1813 in which the whole of the Enemy’s squadron was captured; that 
some of the wounded seamen were sent to the hospital after the action; 
that in dividing the prize money, such a construction has been given 
to the law as to exclude the petitioner from any part thereof, under 
which construction the whole of the said prize money has been dis¬ 
tributed among the officers and crew; the petitioner prays that 
Congress would grant him such a sum as will be equal to what his 
proportion of the said prize money would have been, had it been 
determined that he was entitled to a proportion thereof. 

The Committee are of opinion that the construction given to the 
law in the case stated, is a correct one, and conformable to naval 
usage in similar cases. Prize money is allowed as a stimulus to 
courage & exertion in action and a reward for valour, danger & 
victory. They therefore recommend to the House the following 
resolution: 

Resolved , that the prayer of the petitioner, ought not to be granted. 


Made March 3 rd 1816. 

Read, and ordered to lie upon the Table. 

The committee on Naval affairs to whom were referredt he peti- 
jonathan Low jr ti° ns of Jonathan Lowe J r and William Driscoll, and 
& william Driseoii, of Anne Brown; 

and Anne Brown. 

REPORT: 

That they have been unable to act finally on the subject, the said 
petitions having been stolen with other papers from the possession of 
the Chairman; they therefore recommend the following resolution: 

Resolved , that the Committee be discharged from further consid¬ 
eration of said Petitions. 


End of the 3 rd session of the 13 th Congress. 



14 th CONGRESS, 1 st SESSION. 


In the House of Representatives 

of the United States, 

December 6 th 1815. 


A Committee on the Naval establishment was appointed, consist¬ 
ing of 


M r 

M r 

M r 

M r 

M r 

M r 

M r 


Pleasants Chairman 
Middleton 
Cooper 
Parris 
Hammond 
Boss and 
McLean of (K.) 


Members . 


Made February 5 th 1816. 

Accompanied with Bill rewarding the Officers and Crew of the 
Frigate Constitution, for the Capture of the British Sloop of War 
Levant.” 

The Committee on Naval affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Captain Charles Stewart late commander of the frigate Constitution, 
praying to be paid the value of the Levant, a British 
of iSSSSmiSSToJ 0 Sffip of War, captured by the Constitution in her late 

Frigate Constitution ^ taken by ^ Qf ^ harbour of p ort 

Praya, a neutral port, by a squadron of British Ships, have had the 
said petition under consideration, and make the following, 

report : 

The petitioner states that on the 20 th of February 1815, with the 
frigate Constitution under his Command, whilst cruising in the 
Neighbourhood of the Island of Madeira, he fell in with two British 
ships of War, the Cyane mounting 34 guns, and the Levant mounting 
21.—that the Constitution brought the two ships to Action, and cap¬ 
tured both, after a conflict of forty minutes; that having taken 
possession of her prizes, the Constitution proceeded on her course, 
and on the 10 th of March, anchored with her prizes in port Praya, 
in S* Jago, one of the Cape de Verde Islands belonging to Portugal; 
that on the next day, March the 11 th whilst lying in the said port, 
they discovered a squadron of Ships, which ultimately proved to be 
British, consisting of three sail, 2 of 68, and one of 50 guns, com¬ 
manded by Sir George Collier; that the Constitution with her prizes, 
immediately got under way, and with much difficulty escaped the 
enemy, who had approached very near, under cover of a thick fog, 

7 





8 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[14th Congress, 


before they were discovered; that the Constitution and Cyane got 
off without being brought to action by so superior a force, and the 
Levant, which had moved in a direction to divide the attention of 
the enemy, being pursued, was enabled to get back into Port Pray a, 
and anchored close under the batteries, thinking the enemy would 
respect the neutrality of the port; that in that situation she was 
attacked and taken possession of by the enemy, without any attempt 
on the part of the Portugu ese to preve nt the outrage. 

The petitioner asks of Congress to pay to the officers and crew of 
the Constitution the value of the Levant, she having been captured 
by them on the high seas, and forcibty taken from a neutral port by 
the enemy. 

The committee are of opinion, that the petitioners have not a 
right to demand of the United States the value of the said prize; 
though the government have a right to demand of the Portuguese 
Government, compensation for the outrage committed in one of her 
ports, and if compensation is made, the amount ought to be paid 
to the Captors, yet, in the many, and great losses sustained by our 
citizens during the late war in Europe, by the violation of their 
neutral rights, it has not been the practice of the government, to 
make compensation for such losses; were it to be done in this case, 
the captors would be placed in a more eligible situation, than if the 
outrage had not been committed; in that case they would have had 
to encounter the ordinary dangers of the sea, in bringing their prize 
into port, and also the hazard of recapture by the enemy. But 
proceeding on the principle acted on by Congress in other cases which 
occurred during the late war, of making some compensation for the 
gallantry and good conduct of the officers and men, where they did 
not succeed in getting their prizes into port; and such gallantry and 
good conduct having been signally displayed in this action, the 
proper tribunals having determined that the force of the enemy was 
superior, the committee taking the case of the Frolic, captured by 
the Wasp, and recaptured by the enemy as a proper criterion, the 
force of the Levant being about equal to that of the Frolic, and the 
compensation made, being $25,000, recommend the passage of an 
Act authorizing the payment of that sum to the officers and Crew 
of the Constitution, to be deducted from the value of the Levant, 
provided the government succeed in obtaining such value from the 
Portuguese Government. For this purpose they herewith report a 


Navy Department, January 5 th 1816. 

Sir: In compliance with the instructions of the Hon ble Com¬ 
mittee upon Naval affairs communicated by your letter of the 29 th 
Ultimo, I have the honor to inclose to you papers N° 1 to 7. which 
contain all the information in the possession of this Department, 
relative to the capture of the British Vessels of War Cyane & 
Levant, by the U. S. Frigate Constitution under the command of 
Captain Charles Stewart of the United States Navy. 

I have the honor to be, &c &c 

B. W. Crowninshield. 

Hon ble James Pleasants 

Chairman of Naval Committee. 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


9 


N° l. 


U. S. Frigate Constitution, May, 1815. 

Sir: On the 20 th of February last, the Island of Madeira, bearing 
about W. S. W. distant 60 Leagues, we fell in with his Britannic 
Majesty’s two ships of War the Cyane and Levant, and brought 
them to action about 6 O’Clock in the Evening, both of which (after 
a spirited engagement of 40 Minutes) surrendered to the ship under 
my command. 

Considering the advantages, derived by the enemy from a divided 
and more active force, as also their superiority in the weight and 
number of their guns; I deem the speedy and decisive result of this 
action the strongest assurance which can be given to government, 
that all under my command did their duty, and gallantly supported 
the reputation of American seamen. 

Inclosed you will receive the minutes of the Action, and a list of 
the killed and wounded on board this Ship, also inclosed, you will 
receive for your information a statement of the Actual force of the 
Enemy, and the number killed and wounded on board their ships, as 
near as could be ascertained. 

I have the honor to be &c 


IIon ble B. W. Crowninsiiield 

Secretary of the Navy. 


Charles Stewart. 


No 2. 

Minutes of the Chase of the U. S. Frigate Constitution by an 

English Squadron of three Ships, from out the harbour of Port 

Praya, Island of S^ Yago. 

Commences with fresh breeses and foggy weather: at 5 minutes 
past 12, discovered a large Ship through the fog, standing in for 
Port Praya; at 8 minutes past 12 discovered two other ships astern 
of her standing in for the port: from the general appearance, sup¬ 
posed them to be one of the Enemy’s Squadron’s, and from the little 
respect hitherto paid by them to neutral waters, I deemed it most 
prudent to put to sea. The signal was made to the Cyane & Levant 
to get under weigh; at 12 after Meridian, with our topsails set, we 
cut our Cable and got under weigh (when the Portuguese opened a 
fire on us from several of their Batteries on shore,), the Prize Ships 
following our motions, and stood out of the harbour of Port Praya, 
close under East point, passing the Enemy’s Squadron, about gun 
shot to windward of them. Crossed our top-gallant yards, and set 
Fore sail, Mainsail, Spanker, flying Jib and Top-gallant sails. The 
Enemy seeing us under weigh, tacked ship, and made all sail in 
chase of us. As far as we could Judge of their rates from the thick¬ 
ness of the weather, supposed them two ships of the line, and one 
Frigate. At % past meridian cut away the boats towing astern: 
1 st Cutter & gig. At 1 P. M. found our sailing about equal with the 
Ship on our quarter, but the Frigate lufiing gaining our wake, and 
rather dropping astern of us, finding the Cyane dropping astern, and 
to leeward, and the frigate gaining on her fast. I found it impossible 
to save her if she continued on the same course, without having the 


10 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[14th Congress, 


Constitution brought to action by their whole force; I made the 
signal at 10 minutes past, 1 p. m. to her to tack Ship, which was 
complied with. This manoeuvre, I conceived would detach one of 
the Enemy’s Ships in pursuit of her, while at the same time from her 

E osition she would be enabled to reach the anchorage at Port Pray a, • 
efore the detached Ship could come up with her, but if they did not 
tack after her, it would afford her an opportunity to double their 
rear, and make her escape before the wind. They all continued in 
full chase of the Levant & this Ship. The Ship on our lee quarter 
firing by divisions, broadsides—her shot falling short of us. At 3, 

E . m. by our having dropped the Levant considerably, her situation 
ecame, (from the position of the Enemy’s frigate, similar to the 
Cyane, it became necessary to separate also from the Levant, or 
risk this Ship being brought to action, to cover her. I made the 
signal at 5 minutes past 3, for her to tack, which was complied with: 
At 12 minutes past 3. the whole of the Enemy’s Squadron tacked in 
pursuit of the Levant, and gave up the pursuit or this Ship. This 
sacrifice of the Levant became necessary for the preservation of the 
Constitution. 

Sailing master Hixon, Midshipman Varnum, 1 Boatswains mate, 
& 12 men, were absent, on duty in the 5 th Cutter, to bring the Cartel 
brig under our stern. 


N° 3. 

Minutes of the Action between the U. S. Frigate Constitution, and 
H. M. Ships Cyane & Levant on the 20 th February 1815. 

Commences with light breezes from the E. and cloudy weather. 
At 1. discovered a sail two points on the Larboard bow, hauled up 
and made sail in chase. At \ past 1. made the sail to be a Ship. 
At | past 1. discovered another sail ahead. Made them out at 2 
p. m. to be both Ships standing, close hauled with their starboard 
tacks on board. At 4. P. M. the weathermost Ship made signals and 
bore up for her consort, then about ten miles to leeward. We bore 
up after her, and set lower topmast, topgallant, and royal studding 
sails in chace. At ^ past 4. carried away our main royal masts, 
took in the sails and got another prepared. At 5. P. M. commenced 
firing on the Chase from our two larboard bow guns—our shot falling 
short, ceased firing. At i past 5. finding it impossible to prevent their 
junction, cleared Ship for action, then about 4, miles from the 2. Ships— 
at 40 minutes after 5. they passed within hail of each other, and 
hauled by the wind on the starboard tack, hauled up their courses, 
and prepared to receive us. At 45 minutes past 5. they made all 
sail, close hauled by the wind, in hopes of getting to windward of us. 
At 55, minutes past 5, finding themselves disappointed in their 
object, and we were closing with them fast, they shortened sail, and 
formed on a line of wind, about half a cables length from each other. 
At 6, P. M. having them under command of our battery, hoisted our 
Colours; which was answered by both ships hoisting English Ensigns. 
At 5. minutes past 6. ranged up on the starboard side of the Sternmost 
Ship about 300 yards distant, and commenced the Action by broad¬ 
sides, both ships returning our fire with great spirit for about 15, 
minutes—then the fire beginning to slacken, and the great column of 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


11 


smoke collected under our lee, induced us to cease our firing to ascer¬ 
tain their positions, and conditions.—in about 3 minutes, the smoke 
clearing away, we found ourselves .abreast of the headmost Ship, the 
sternmost ship luffing up for our larboard quarter, we poured a broad¬ 
side into the headmost Ship, and then braced back our main and 
mizen topsails, and backed astern, under cover of the smoke, abreast 
the sternmost ship, when the action was continued with spirit, and 
considerable effect, until 35 minutes past 6. when the enemy’s fire 
again slackened, and we discovered the headmost bearing up.—filled 
our Topsails—shot ahead, and gave her two stern rakes—we then dis¬ 
covered the Sternmost Ship wearing also, wore ship immediately 
after her, and giving her a stern rake, she luffing too on our starboard 
bows, and giving us her larboard broadside. We ranged up on her 
larboard quarter within hail, and was about to give her our starboard 
broadside, when she struck her colours, fired a lee Gun, and yielded. 
At 50 Minutes past 6. took possession of his majesty’s Ship Cyane, 
Captain Gordon Falcon, mounting 34 guns. At 8, filled away after 
her consort, which was still in sight to leeward. At 4 past 8, found 
her standing towards us, with her starboard tacks, close hauled, with 
top gallant sails set, and colours flying. At 50 minutes past 8, ranged 
close along to windward of her, on opposite tacks, and exchanged 
broadsides, she then crouded all sail, and endeavoured to escape by 
running—hauled on board our tacks, set spanker, and flying jib in 
chase. At 4 past 9 commenced firing on her from our starboard bow 
chaser—gave her several shot, which cut her spars & rigging con¬ 
siderably. At 10 P. M. finding they could not escape, fired a gun, 
struck her colours and yielded. We immediately took possession of 
H. M. Ship Levant, Hon ble Cap* George Douglass, mounting 21. Guns. 
At 1 a. m. the damages of our rigging was repaired, sails shifted, and 
the Ship in a fighting condition. 


Made January 30 th 1816. 

Read, concurred in. Petition rejected. 

The Committee on Naval affairs to whom was referred the memorial 
of John D. Henley on behalf of himself, the officers 
John d. Henley anc [ crew 0 f the Schooner Carolina; 

REPORT: 

The memorialist represents, that during the invasion of Louisiana 
by the British forces in December 1814, he commanded the said 
Schooner the said .schooner belonging to the United States, then lying 
at New Orleans: That on the landing of the enemy on the 23^ of 
December, he was requested by the American General, to fall down 
the river and take a position on the enemy’s flank: that in compliance 
with said request, the Schooner fell down the river to the required 
position, where they opened a destructive fire on the Enemy, which 
was continued until the Americans were so closely engaged with the 
British, that a continuance of it would have been destructive to them 
as well as the enemy: that a fire of hot shot was at length opened on 



12 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[14th Congress, 


the Schooner, by which she was set on fire & finally blown up; that 
the memorialist with his officers and crew, escaped with difficulty, 
with their lives.—and were unable to save their property, consisting 
of their clothing, and the Nautical books and instruments of the Offi¬ 
cers; which was entirely lost, and for which they pray a remuneration 
from Congress 

The Committee think this, one of the cases of loss, to which military 
men, both in the land and naval service are frequently exposed; that 
numerous cases of the kind occurred during the late war, and must 
occur during all other wars: that they believe there is no precedent 
of remuneration by government for such losses: 

They therefore recommend the following resolution: 

Resolved that the prayer of the memorialist ought not to be granted. 


Made March 5 th 1816. 

Read, and Committed to the Committee of the Whole House, on the 
Bill 11 authorising the payment of a sum of money to James Levins.” 
N? 53. 

The.Committee on Naval affairs to whom was referred the petition 
of John Rogers and others, inhabitants of New London in the State 
of Connecticut, who volunteered in a boat, without a 
John Rogers. & ai. C0mm i ss i 0 n to attack the Enemy during the late war, 
and now pray for the compensation allowed by law to armed vessels, 
for the Capture of a midshipman and two seamen of the Navy of 
Great Britain, made prisoners on Gull Island, in Long Island sound, 
and delivered to the Marshal of the District of Connecticut, as 
appears by his Certificate, on the 26 th day of august 1814. 

report: 

That the prayer of the petition of the said John Rodgers,"William C. 
Burdick, Joshua Holt, and Jeremiah Chipman, is reasonable, and 
ought to be granted. 


Made March 28 th 1816. 

Read, and ordered to lie upon the Table. 

The Committee on Naval affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of William Sturgis, late gunner in the Flotilla com¬ 
manded by Commodore Barney, 


William Sturgis. 


REPORT: 

That the Petitioner states, having lost all his Clothing when the 
flotilla was blown up, in the Patuxent, for which he prays compensa¬ 
tion. 

The Committee are of opinion, that no relief having been granted 
in many similar cases, it is inexpedient at the present time to grant 
the prayer of the petition: they therefore recommend the following 
resolution. 

Resolved , that the prayer of the petition ought not to be granted. 




1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


13 


Made March 28 th 1816. 

Read, Concurred in. Petition rejected. 

The Committee on Naval affairs, to which was referred the petition 
p • t, °f several non-commissioned officers & privates of the 
Bey'sFiotiiiaMen. ar * Flotilla lately Commanded by Commodore Barney, 
submit the following, 

report: 

The Petitioners state, that having severally received their dis¬ 
charges from the service, at periods antecedent to the passage of 
the act of February 27 th 1815, they are debarred the benefit of the 
four months pay allowed to the men who were discharged in conse¬ 
quence of the repeal of the Law authorizing the flotilla establishment; 
and they pray that they may receive a like bounty, as if they had 
continued in service until the passage of that Act. 

.The Committee are of opinion, that the decisions of Congress 
hitherto made in similar cases, afford no precedent which would 
authorise the allowance of the bounty claimed by the petitioners, and 
therefore recommend the following resolution. 

Resolved, that the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 


Made April 15 th 1816. 

Read, and ordered to. lie upon the Table. 

The Committee on Naval affairs, to whom was referred a Bill from 

on senate bill re- the Senate, entitled, an act “To reward the officers 
warding officer &c of and Crew of the United States Frigate Constitution,” 
constitution Frigate have had the same under consideration, and, 

report: 

That the said Bill proposes to relinquish to the Officers and Crew of 
the Constitution the sum of twenty thousand dollars, it being that 
part of the value of the Cyane, prize to the Constitution, which has 
accrued to the Navy pension fund. As this bill introduces a new prin¬ 
ciple, containing a departure from the principle of the prize act, which 
the Committee think improper; they are of opinion it ought not to 
pass; And therefore recommend to the House the following resolution. 

Resolved , that it would be inexpedient to pass the said act. 


Made April 17 th 1816. 

Read, concurred in. Petition rejected. 

The Committee on naval affairs to whom was referred the report of 
the Secretary of the Navy, on the petition of John 
John McCawiey McCawley prize agent. 

REPORT: 

That they have considered the report of the Secretary of the Navy, 
together with the opinion of the Attorney general, on the case of the 




14 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. [14th Cong., 1st Sess.] 


Madonna Catapoliana, captured by the Syren for a breach of the 
blockade of the port of Tripoli, in the War carried on by the United 
States against that power: The Attorney general gives it as his opinion, 
that the subject is a proper one for the consideration of Congress, as 
he does not think it different in principle from the case of the Algerine 
vessels taken in the late war against that power, and restored at the 
treaty of peace, and for which the Captors have been compensated 
by a Bill which has passed this house. 

The Algerine vessels were taken in open War from an enemy: 
The Madonna Catapoliana was taken from a neutral and friendly 

E ower for a breach of blockade, and restored without having ever 
een carried before a Court of Admiralty: The Committee think it 
would be carrying the principle too far to say that a vessel belonging 
to a friendly and neutral power, captured for breach of blockade, and 
restored to the neutral by the Commander of the Blockading squadron, 
without the case having been decided on by a Court of Admiralty, to 
pay the Captors the supposed value of such prize: They therefore 
recommend to the House, the following resolution. 

Resolved , that it is inexpedient to grant the prayer of the said 
petition, and that the petitioners have leave to withdraw their 
petition and documents. 


14 th CONGRESS, 2" <l SESSION. 


In the House of Representatives 

of the United States, 

December 4 th 1816. 

A Committee on the Naval establishment was appointed, consist¬ 
ing of 

M r Pleasants, 

M r Betts, 

M r Culpepper, 

AP Lovett, 

M r Robertson, 

M r Stearns, and 
M r Clendennin. 


Made December 30 th 1816. 

Read, and ordered to lie upon the Table. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs to which was referred the petition 
of Thomas I. Allen, administrator of William II. Allen, late com- 
Tho?i Alien mander of the United States’ Brig Argus, and the 
surviving officers and crew of that vessel, and the 
heirs and representatives of the officers and crew deceased, have had 
the said petition under consideration, and have agree upon the fol¬ 
lowing Report and Resolution, thereupon: 

The petitioners state, that in the summer of 1813, during the late 
war with Great Britain, William H. Allen commander of the United 
States brig Argus, was ordered by the Navy Department, to receive 
on board, and convey to France, our late minister to that Country, 
and afterwards to cruise on the coast of England and Ireland, for the 
purpose of intercepting and destroying the commerce of the enemy in 
that quarter; that after executing the former part of the order, the 
Argus proceeded on her cruise, and in the course of three weeks, on 
a service of the greatest difficulty and danger, captured nineteen 
British vessels in the Irish Channel, amounting in value, with their 
cargoes, to about two and a half millions of dollars; that his orders 
from the Navy Department forbade the commander to send any of 
his prizes into port, “ unless their value and qualities should render 
it morally certain that they might reach a safe and not distant port.” 
All those prizes, except two, were accordingly destroyed at sea, with 
their cargoes, and.” All these prizes, except two, were accordingly 
destroyed at sea, with their cargoes, and the only two, which under 
his orders, he deemed himself at liberty to attempt to save were 
recaptured by the enemy; that after seriously injuring the commerce 

15 




16 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[14th CONGItESS, 


of the enemy in those seas, the Argus was captured by a superior 
force, on the 14 th of August, 1813.—her commander, with other 
officers and many of her crew, mortally wounded—and the survivors 
remained a long time in captivity. The petitioners ask some remu¬ 
neration for their services, and loss^ in the destruction of their prizes— 
the amount they leave to the judgment of Congress. 

The Committee have bestowed an attentive consideration this 
case, and with every disposition to appreciate the merits of the 
officers and Crew of the brig Argus, are of opinion, that the prayer 
of the petition ought not to be granted. It is well recollected wliat 
a number of circumstances concurred to produce that impulse of 
feeling, which conferred upon the officers and Crew of the frigate 
Constitution, the reward which they received for the Capture of the 
Guerriere. The then recent disasters of our land forces—the brilliant 
contrast on the ocean—the success of a part of our infant navy in 
its first contest with that of Great Britain. 

The apprehensions entertained of the result of such a Contest, all 
conspired to produce a burst of applause from one end of our Country 
to the other. This feeling extended to the national legislature, and, 
along with resolutions expressive of their high sense of the merits of 
the Officers and men, was coupled an Act bestowing a pecuniary 
reward, in consideration of the necessity they were under of destroying 
their prize, to prevent her falling into the hands of the enemy then in 
force in the immediate neighborhood; The cases of compensation 
to be found in the Acts of Congress were, generally, bottomed upon 
this precedent. The Committee doubt the propriety of extending 
the principle. 

It is unquestionably true, that Sailors and Soldiers in the public 
service of a government, are bound to obey its orders. Soldiers have 
to execute the most difficult orders, whenever the necessity occurs, 
without the hope of prize-money or emolument in any shape: Sailors, 
when war exists with a commercial nation, have this prospect, being 
entitled to a portion of what they capture, if their prizes get safe into 
port, and this prospect, no doubt, has some influence in inducing 
them to engage in public service. 

But should the policy of the government point out the necessity or 
propriety of carrying on a destructive warfare against the commerce 
of an enemy, it his, undoubtedly, the complete and unqualified right 
to order its ships on such service. 

It will be remembered, that such was the opinion of government of 
our capacity to injure our enemy essentially in this way, that at the 
time the news of peace arrived, a law had passed, and preparations 
were making under it, to fit out a squadron of small ships under it, 
for this express purpose. No one imagined, it is believed, that the 
government was to pay, or make compensation in any way to the 
officers and crews of the vessels engaged in this service, for what they 
might destroy of the enemy’s commerce. 

Should the United States be unfortunately engaged in another war 
with the same power, an event at least possible, the same mode of 
warfare might, and probably would be resorted to, particularly 
during the comparatively weak state of our Navy. 

Should the prayer of this petition be granted, no one acquainted 
with the force of precedent, can doubt that it would be resorted to; 


1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


17 


and the extent of the expense to be incurred by the government, in 
such case, cannot be foreseen or calculated. 

But were it the opinion of the Committee that some compensation 
ought to be made in this case, they should find great difficulty in 
fixing a standard by which it shorJd be regulated: any rule to which 
fhev could resort must be entirely capricious, and could not, they 
Deiib/u) be bottomed on principle. All the circumstances connected 
with the petition being duly considered, the Committee recommend 
to the House the adoption of the following resolution.— 

Resolved , that the prayer of the petition ought not to be granted. 


Made February 5 th 1817. 

Head, and ordered to lie upon the Table. 

The Committee on naval affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of Arthur Sinclair for himself, his officers and crew 
Arthurs ‘ciair. j n a cru i se on Lake Superior during the late war, 

REPORTI 

The petitioner states that during the la:e war he was ordered on an 
expedition up lake superior against fort Michlimacinac. That during 
said cruise, it was the fortune of the party to destroy in the river 
Nantawausaga, a brig belonging to the enemy loaded with military 
stores: her burthen was about two hundred tons, and the loss sus¬ 
tained by the enemy in the destruction of said brig and stores was 
supposed to be not much short of $100,000. This loss was of a 
character the most serious to the enemy, and would have been felt 
in the most sensible manner, had not the conclusion of peace put an 
end to the war. 

The petitioner prays that the munificence of Congress would 
bestow on those concerned in said expedition, such reward as in 
their judgment they may merit. 

The Committee have considered the petition with attention, and 
are of opinion that the prayer of it, ought not to be granted. The 
conduct of Cap* Sinclair, his officers and men was undoubtedly gal¬ 
lant, but the Committee are able to see in the transaction nothing 
but the discharge of a duty in the way in which duties were generally 
discharged by the naval officers and men, with bravery and fidelity. 
Extraordinary rewards should be reserved for extraordinary services, 
and they have been bestowed by Congress in few or no cases, but 
where there was equal, or superior force. 

The Committee therefore recommend to the House, the following 
resolution: 

Resolved , that the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 

39889—10-2 



18 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[14th Congress, 


Made January 20 th 1817. 

Read, and the resolution therein contained, concurred in by the 
House: Petition rejected. 

The Committee on Naval affairs to which was referred the petition 
James ware. of James Ware, a citizen of the State of New York, 

report : 

That the petitioner states he was a sea faring man, and accus¬ 
tomed to get his living by that profession until the 10 th day of 
January 1815. At that time he was employed by the United States 
Naval Store-keeper at New-York, at the daily wages of one and a 
half dollars in unloading heavy cannon from on board the sloop 
General Washington, and then lading them on terms for the pur¬ 
pose of transporting them to the lakes: that while executing this 
duty, and on the day above mentioned, he was caught under a 
32 pounder cannon, which fell on his leg by the breaking of a runner, 
and so injured it, that he was compelled to have it amputated: that 
he is unable to pursue his calling of a sea-faring man, and is destitute 
of the means of support, and prays to be placed on the list of Navy 
pensioners, or to be provided for in some other way. 

The Committee, on due consideration of this subject, are of opinion, 
that neither precedent, nor principle would authorise the petitioner 
to be placed on the Navy Pension fund, that fund having been con¬ 
stituted in a particular way, for special purposes, within the purview 
of which the case of the petitioner does not come. 

On the question of providing for the case of the petitioner in some 
other mode, this committee are not as well qualified to judge as 
another committee of this body; from examination & reflection 
however, they are of opinion, that no provision by way of pension, 
or in any other mode, has been made, by the United States, for persons 
similarly situated with the petitioner. They therefore recommend 
to the House the following resolution. 

Resolved, that the prayer of the Petitioner ought not to be granted. 


Made February, 5 th 1817. 

Read, concurred in; Petition rejected. 

The Committee on Naval affairs, to which was referred the petition 
John M. Ryer. of John M. Ryer, 

REPORT: 

That the petitioner states, that in the month of June 1813, he in 
conjunction with others in the City of New York, in pursuance of an 
act of Congress, entitled, “An act to encourage the destruction of 
the armed vessels of War of the enemy.” passed the 3 d March 1813, 
purchased and fit ted up a vessel, arnf proceeded with off the harbour 
of New London, where it was their intention and hope to effect the 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


19 


destruction of one or more of the enemy’s vessels there, blockading 
the American squadron: That although the petitioner did not suc¬ 
ceed in the destruction of any “British armed vessel of War” within 
what may be deemed the true intent and meaning of said act; yet 
they did succeed in destroying several of the British armed boats or 
barges with their crews, or a great portion of them. 

The petitioner further states, that he incurred considerable expense 
in fitting out the aforesaid enterprise, and prays for some remuneration 
from Congress. 

The Committee having considered the grounds of the petitioners 
application, are of opinion, it would be improper to extend the 
principles of the above recited act of Congress, and therefore recom¬ 
mend to the House the following resolution. 

Resolved, that the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 


Made, February 18 th 1817 

Read, and the resolution therein contained, concurred in by the 

House. 

The Committee on naval affairs to which was referred the peti¬ 
tion of William Farr and John Maxwell, together 

arr ax " e • w ith the report of the Secretary of the Navy, have 
had the same under consideration; and 

report: 

That the petitioners state, that they are orphans that their fathers’ 
died in the service of the Country; that the petitioners have served 
it, one, twelve years; and the other eight; that they were musicians 
in the Marine Corps, and being minors, during their service, their 
surplus money was put into the hands of Colonel Wharton, Com¬ 
mandant of the Corps, until their term of service expired, which was 
on the 28 th of October last, there being then due to William Farr 
$529 t Vo —to John Maxwell $327 T W- that they have applied to 
Colonel Wharton for a settlement of their accounts, and payment 
of their money, but have received no satisfaction; that they are 
destitute and in distress, and pray Congress to take their case into 
consideration, and afford them some relief. 

The Committee ask leave to refer to two letters from Col 0 Wharton 
to the Secretary of the Navy, accompanying his report to this house. 
It will be perceived that Colonel Wharton considers these boys as 
his apprentices; no evidence of any legal contract by Indenture or 
otherwise has been exhibited to the Committee to prove that they 
are apprentices; and it is admitted by Colonel Wharton that they 
have not been considered in service since October last; Indeed, in 
his second letter he seems virtually to waive any claim to their 
ervices, and offers to pay the money to any legally authorised agent 
or party, stating the petitioners to be minors. 

The Committee are of opinion, that Congress can do nothing which 
will remedy the grievance complained of in this case. It appears to 
them to be a proper subject of enquiry by a military or civil tribunal, 



20 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[14th Congress, 


and think it may and ought to be adjusted by the Secretary of the 
Navy: if however his powers, under existing laws are not competent 
to this purpose, application must be made to a court of law. The 
Committee are of opinion, that the petitioners, judging from their 
appearance, are minors. Upon the whole they are of opinion, that 
the case as presented by the petition and documents ought again to 
be referred to the Secretary of the navy: They therefore recommend 
to the house the following resolution: 

Resolved that the Committee on Naval affairs be discharged from 
the further consideration of the petition of William Farr and John 
Maxwell, and that the said petition, and the accompanying docu¬ 
ments be referred to the Secretary of the Navy. 

The Letters referred to in the foregoing report have been sent to 
the Office of the Secretary of the Navy. 


Made February 19 th 1817. 

Read, and ordered to lie upon the Table. 

The committee on naval affairs to whom was referred a resolution, 
instructing them to enquire into the expediency and propriety of 
directing the application of the funds arising under 
Richmond^° spital at the Acts of Congress “for the relief of sick and dis¬ 
abled seamen,” at the port of Richmond in Virginia, 
in aid of the funds of the Corporation of that City, towards the 
creation and support of a marine hospital, have had the same under 
consideration, and Report: 

That the committee addressed a letter on the subject to the 
Secretary of the treasury, to whose answer they refer as part of this 
report; all circumstances considered, the committee are of opinion 
that it would be improper at this time to make any change in the 
existing regulations. 


Treasury Department, Feby 15 th 1817 
Sir 

In reply to your letter of the 14 th Ultimo I have the honor to state, 
that it is deemed inexpedient at this time to change the regulations 
which have hitherto governed the application of the fund provided 
by law for the relief of sick and disabled seamen. 

During the recess of Congress, it is contemplated to adopt measures 
for obtaining all the information, which will be necessary to decide 
upon the propriety of modifying the existing regulations upon that 
subject; until this information can be obtained, it is believed to be 
unsafe to make any change, unless Congress should think proper to 
legislate upon the subject. 

I have the Honor to be 
Your most obedient & 

Very hum ble Servant 

W M . H Crawford. 

Hon ble James Pleasants 

C. of Naval Committee. 




1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


21 


Made February 27 th 1817 
Read, concurred in: Petition rejected. 

The Committee on Naval affairs to which was referred the petition 
Stephen champiin. of Stephen Champlin, 

REPORT: 

The petitioner states that he is a Lieutenant in the Navy of the 
United States; that during the year 1814 he commanded the schooner 
Tigress then cruising on Lake fluron; that on the night of the third 
of September he was overpowered by a superior British force, himself 
badly wounded, and with his vessel and Crew, captured by the enemy; 
that the prisoner was plundered after the capture of private property 
to the value of five hundred dollars, for which loss he prays to be 
compensated by the government. 

The Committee on examining this question, find no precedents to 
justify them in recommending it to the house to grant the prayer of 
the petition; but believe that a number of applications on similar 
principles have been rejected; they therefore recommend to the 
House the following resolution: 

Resolved, that the prayer of the petitioner, ought not to be granted. 



15 th CONGRESS, 1 st SESSION. 


In the House of Representatives 

of the United States, 

Decem r 3 d 1818. 

A Committee on Naval Affairs was appointed, consisting of 


M r Pleasants, Chairman. 

11 SlLSBEE, 

“ Wendover, 

“ Parrott, 

“ Ringgold, 

“ Sawyer and 
“ Schuyler. 


Members. 


Made the 22 d of December 1817, and agreed to by the House. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs to which was referred the petition 
Catharine Young. of Catharine Young . . . 

report: 

The petitioner states that in the year 1812, her son the late Doct. 
John Young Junior, entered the naval service of the United States 
as a Surgeon’s mate; that from his exemplary conduct and judgment 
in his profession, the respective medical and commanding officers 
with whom he served, solicited the Secretary of the Navy to advance 
him to the rank of Surgeon; that in consequence of such application 
the rank of Surgeon in the Navy was conferred on him in the month of 
April 1816, in which capacity he had previously acted in the Squadron 
commanded by Commodore Decatur in the war against the Algerines; 
that shortly after the return of that Squadron to the United States, 
Doct. Young was ordered to the Sloop of War Peacock, then fitting 
in the port of New York to carry the United States’ minister, M r . 
Gallatin, to France; that soon after the arrival of the Peacock at 
Havre de Grace, doct. Young fell, by accident, from the window of 
a three Story house in that town, and was instantly killed by the fall; 
that the petitioner, his mother is aged, infirm, a widow, without funds 
or relations, & destitute of the means of Supporting herself; that 
during the life of her son, a part of his pay was regularly set aside 
towards her support, of which she has been deprived by his death. 
The Committee after due consideration of this case are of opinion 
that it does not come under any principle upon which the pension 
laws of the United States are founded, as much extended as the prin- 

23 





24 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[15th Congress, 


ciples of those laws have been latterly. The case of Mary Chever to 
whom a pension for life was granted during the late War, was a very 
singular one: her two only sons, as the Committee believe were 
seamen on board the frigate Constitution, then Commanded by 
Commodore Bainbridge; in the action of that Ship with the British 
frigate Java, in which the latter was captured both the sons of Mary 
Chever were killed. The singularity of the case attracted the atten¬ 
tion of Congress, and the pension mentioned above was settled on 
the mother. It is highly probable that the late War has left many 
parents in a situation like that of the petitioner, and who have not 
been provided for by Congress. Upon the whole of the Circumstances 
of this case, the Committee do not feel themselves authorized to recom¬ 
mend to the house a law which would provide for a single case, which 
however strongly it may appeal to the Sympathies of the House, is 
by no means, it is believed, a Solitary one; nor do the Committee at 
this time think themselves at liberty to recommend an extension of 
the pension laws. 

They therefore recommend the following resolution: 

Resolved, that it would be inexpedient to grant the prayer of the 
petition. 


Made the 2 d of March 1818, & agreed to by the House. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs to whom was referred the petition 
of William Flannigain and William Parsons, have had 
sjns amugam & Par the same under consideration, and 

report: 

The petitioners state that in the month of April 1813 they entered 
into a Contract with the agent of the United States for the building 
a 44 gun frigate at Baltimore, that the price stipulated was 63 dollars 
per ton, carpenters measure, making the sum of ninety four thousand 
nine hundred and ninety four dollars and seventy two cents; that the 
said frigate was afterwards called the Java, was faithfully built by 
them in every respect, but as to the time of delivery there was some 
delay (produced by the blockade of the Chesapeake) which was 
unavoidable; that she was safely launched and delivered to the officers 
of the United States appointed to receive her: the petitioners further 
state that the sum stipulated was in reference to the then prices of 
materials and labour, the lowest for which the work could have been 
undertaken; that in consequence of a great rise in the price of 
materials and the difficulty of transporting man} r of them, which was 
obliged to be done by land, by means of the occupation of the Chesa¬ 
peake by the Enemy, they sustained a great loss, so that the sum 
actually expended by them in the purchase of materials and the pay¬ 
ment of workmen, independent and exclusive of any compensation 
for their risk, labor and personal services, amounted to 107,246 
dollars and 89 cents, exceeding the amount paid them by government 
the sum of 12,252 dollars & 17 cents; They therefore pray Congress 
to take their case into Consideration and make them such additional 
compensation as in their judgment they may merit. 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


25 


From the Statement exhibited to the Committee they are of opinion 
that the case presented by the petitioners is substantially correct, and 
that they did sustain a considerable loss, and were this a solitary case 
the Committee should feel a strong disposition to recommend it to 
the favorable attention of Congress, but when it is considered how 
many transactions of large amount are performed by individuals 
under contracts with the government ; that were a practice of opening 
those contracts to become common for the purpose of readjusting 
them upon principles other than those which influenced the parties 
at the time they were made, a system would be introduced by which 
the government, would be exposed to great trouble, loss and imposi¬ 
tion; and indeed so objectionable in the opinion of the Committee 
would be such a state of things, that they feel it their duty to oppose 
the commencement of it in this case, and recommend to the House 
the following resolution: 

Resolved, that the prayer of the petitioners ought not to be granted. 


Made the 4 th of March 1818, accompanied with a bill. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs to whom was referred the petition 
of Samuel C. Reid, Captain of the late private armed 
vaS I Ge^i. an Ami- brig general Armstrong, on behalf of himself, the offl- 
strong. cers and crew of the said brig, 

report: 

That the petition and other documents that the circumstances 
which gave rise to the application were in substance the following: 
Captain Reid in the private armed brig General Armstrong, of seven 
guns and 90 men, loft the port of New York on a cruise early in 

September 1814. On the 26 of the same month they came to. 

anchor in the port of Faval, one of the Azores or Western islands 
belonging to the Crown of Portugal: in the Evening of the same day 
a British squadron, consisting of the Plantagenet of 74 guns, the 
Rota of 44 guns, ami the Carnation of 18 guns, under the Command of 
Captain Lloyd, anchored in the same port; during the night which 
was entirely clear, the moon near or at the full and shining brightly, 
which enabled the Americans to examine accurately and observe 
distinctly the movements of the enemy; four boats full of armed 
men w r ere observed to be approaching the Armstrong from the 
smallest of their vessels wdiich lay near; Captain Reid hailed them 
repeatedly to know T what w r ere their views; no answer being returned 
and the boats continuing to approach, orders were given to fire upon 
them, which were instantly obeyed with destructive effect, and after 
a short contest the boats retreated to their ships. It was soon dis¬ 
covered that the enemy were making preparations to renew the 
attack which was commenced about midnight with 12 or 14 boats, 
containing as w r as supposed about 400 men completely armed and 
prepared. After a most obstinate and on the part of the enemy, 
bloody contest, which lasted about forty minutes, they were entirely 
frustrated in their attempts to carry the bri", and again retreated 
to their Ships. In the second contest several of the enemy's boats 




26 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[15th Congress, 


were destroyed, and two of them taken possession of by the crew of 
the Armstrong, literally filled with dead. After the second retreat 
of the enemy the greatest exertions were used by the.Ameri¬ 

cans to prepare their vessel for action in case of another attack. 
About this time Captain Reid received a note from M r . Dabney the 
American Consul, requesting to see him on shore; when he repaired 
thither the Consul informed him that the Portuguese governor had 
addressed a note to the Commander of the British squadron, protest¬ 
ing against his violating the neutrality of the port, and requiring him 
to cease from further outrage on those whom it was his duty to protect. 
To this note Captain Lloyd returned a menacing reply that he would 
take the Armstrong at every hazard, and if she was injured by her 
crew, he would consider the place as an enemy’s port, and treat it 
accordingly. During the last action with the boats the Armstrong 
lay within pistol shot of the castle. Captain Reid then returned on 
board his vessel and about day break a cannonade was commenced 
from one of the enemy’s vessels on the Armstrong. Thus situated, 
finding the enemy determined to persevere in their outrage, and from 
the immense superiority of their force, knowing it would be impossible 
to save his vessel, Capt. Reid having due regard to the safety of his 
comrades who had so nobly supported him, determined to scuttle 
and leave her; this he did, when she was immediately set on fire by 
the enemy and destroyed. 

In these several contests, from good information, there is reason 
to believe the loss of the enemy, at a moderate calculation, amounted 
to at least 250 men in killed and wounded; that of the Ameri¬ 
cans was two killed and seven wounded. The petition further 
states that this British squadron was on its way to the West Indies 
to join the force destined to make an attack on New Orleans; that 
in consequence of the injury which they sustained their junction 
was so much retarded and the expedition so much delayed, that the 
Americans had time to prepare for the defence of that place, which 
but for this circumstance could, probably not have been effected. 
The petition concludes with a prayer that Congress would bestow 
something on those who so gallantly defended the American flag 
under circumstances so hopeless, and who in the contest lost nearly 
the whole of their little all. 

This case has engaged much of the attention of the Committee. 
They do not believe that the annals of our government furnish a 
precedent of rewards bestowed on men situated as were the crew of 
the Armstrong, not in the public service. They are fully aware also 
of the weight attached, and justly attached, to precedents which 
have been settled on due consideration; it would therefore be with 
much reluctance they would consent to establish one, to which an 
appeal might be made in future cases, somewhat analogous in prin¬ 
ciple. But on mature reflection apprehensions from the precedent 
which may be established by this case, are much diminished. It 
will not be going too far in the opinion of the Committee to say, that 
among all the achievements which embellish the annals of the late 
War, there was not one which surpassed that now under consideration. 
A few brave men in the middle of the Atlantic ocean who had no 

personal interest in the.preservation of the vessel they 

defended, and the mere preservation of which without a miracle 
must have been impracticable, could have been actuated by nothing 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


27 


short of the noblest motives which impel men to the achievement of 
valiant deeds, those motives could have been only their own honor 
and the glory of the flag under which they fought: they knew well 
the high value which was placed by their country on the rising repu¬ 
tation of their infant navy, they knew it was all important that that 
reputation should be sustained by Americans in whatever situation 
they might be placed; and impelled by these generous motives and 
these alone; they hazarded everything to accomplish their object. 
They succeeded, and though after two complete victories, the second 
gained under circumstances of the greatest inequality, they were 
ultimately obliged to yield to a superior force, yet the honor of the 
flag was supported, and the American character raised to an elevation 
calculated to produce the most beneficial effects. Should this Con¬ 
gress bestow on these gallant men some mark of their bounty, the 
Committee think it would be well bestowed; and should it have the 
effect of producing similar exertions in future wars, and this precedent 
be pleaded in support of similar applications, they do not believe 
the country will have cause to regret the application of a small sum 

to a purpose so beneficial. From all the.circumstances of 

the case the Committee recommend to the House the passage of a 
bill herewith reported, to divide among the officers and crew of the 
Armstrong the sum of Ten thousand dollars. 


Fayal, 4 th October 1814. 

With infinite regret, I am constrained to say it has eventually 
fallen to my lot to state to you the loss and total destruction of the 
private armed brig general Armstrong late under my command. 

We sailed from Sandy Hook on the evening of the 9 th ult. and 
about midnight fell in close aboard of a razee and ship of the line. 
They pursued till next noon when they thought proper to give over 
the chase. On the 11 th after a nine hours chase, boarded the private 
armed schooner Perry, John Colman, six days from Philadelphia; 
had thrown over all her guns. On the following day fell in with an 
enemy’s gun brig, exchanged a few shot with him and left him. On 
the 24 th fell in & boarded a Spanish brig & schooner, and a Portu¬ 
guese ship, all from the Havanna. On the 26 th following came too 
in Fayal Roads, for the purpose of filling water, called on the Ameri¬ 
can Consul who very politely ordered our water immediately sent off, 
it being our intention to proceed to sea early the next morning. At 
five P. M. I went on board, the Consul and some other gentlemen in 
company. I asked some questions concerning enemies cruizers and 
was told there had been none at these islands for several weeks; 
when about dusk, while we were conversing, the British brig Carna¬ 
tion suddenly hove in sight close under the N. E. head of the harbor 
within gun skot when first discovered. 

The idea of getting under way was instantly suggested; but finding 
the enemys brig had the advantage of a breeze, and but little wind 
with us, it was thought doubtful if we should be able to get to sea 
without hazarding an action. I questioned the consul to know if in 
his opinion the enemy would regard the neutrality of the port ? He 
gave me to understand I might make myself perfectly easy, assuring me 
at the same time they would never molest us while at anchor. But 
no sooner did the enemys brig understand from the pilot boat who 



28 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[15TH CONGRESS, 


we were, when she immediately hauled in and let go her anchor 
within pistol shot of us. At the same moment the Plantagenet and 
frigate Rota, hove in sight to whom the Carnation instantly made 
signal and a constant interchange took place for some time. The 
result was, the Carnation proceeded to throw out all her boats; 
despatched one on board the Commodore, and appeared otherwise 
to be making unusual exertions. From these circumstances I began 
to suspect their real intentions. The moon was near its full, which 
enabled us to observe them very minutely; and I now determined 
to haul in nearer the shore. Accordingly, after clearing for action, 
we got under way, and began to sweep in. The moment this was 
observed by the enemy’s brig, she instantly cut her cable, made sail 
and despatched four boats in pursuit of. Being now about eight P. M. 
as soon as we saw the boats approaching we let go our anchor, got 
springs on our cable, and prepared to receive them. I hailed them 
repeatedly as they drew near, but they felt no inclination to reply. 
Sure of their game the} 7 only pulled up with the greater speed. I 
observed the boats were well manned and apparently as well armed; 
and as soon as they cleverly got along side, we opened our fire, which 
was as soon returned; but meeting with rather a warmer reception 
than they had probably been aware of, they very soon cried for 
quarters and hauled off. In this skirmish I had one man killed, and 
my first lieutenant wounded. The enemy’s loss must have been 
upwards of 20 killed and wounded. 

They now repaired to their ships to prepare for a more formidable 
attack. We, in the interim having taken the hint, prepared to haul 
close in to the beach where we moored ahead and stern within half 
pistol shot of the castle. This done we again prepared in the best 
possible manner for their second reception. About 9 P. M. we 
observed the enemy’s brig towing in a large fleet of boats. They 
soon after left the brig and took their station in three divisions, 
under covert of a small reef of rocks within about musket shot of us. 
Here they continued manoeuvring for some time, the brig still keeping 
under way to act with the boats shoud we at any time attempt our 
escape. 

The shores were lined with the inhabitants waiting the expected 
attack; & from the brightness of the moon they had a most favorable 
view of the scene. The governor with most of the first people of the 
place stood by and saw the whole affair. 

At length about midnight, we observed the boats in motion (our 
crew having laid at their quarters during the whole of this interval) 
They came on in one direct line, keeping in close order, and we 
plainly counted twelve boats. As soon as they came within proper 
distance we opened our fire which was warmly returned from the 
enemy’s carronades and small arms. The discharge from our long 
Tom rather staggered them, but soon reconnoitering, they gave three 
cheers and came on most spiritedly. In a moment they succeeded 
in gaining our bow and starboard quarter, and the word was Board. 
Our great guns now becoming useless we attacked them sword in 
hand, together with our pikes, pistols and musketry, from which 
our lads poured on them a most destructive fire. They made fre¬ 
quent and repeated attempts to gain our decks, but were repulsed 
at all times and in all points with the greatest slaughter. About the 
middle of the action I received intelligence of the death of my second 


1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


29 


lieutenant, and soon after of the third lieutenant being badly wounded. 
From this and other causes I found our fire had much slackened on 
the forecastle, and fearful of the event, I instantly rallied the whole 
of our after division, who had been bravely defending and now had 
succeeded in beating the boats off the quarters. They gave a shout, 
rushed forward, opened a fresh fire and soon after decided the conflict, 
which terminated in the total defeat of the enemy, and the loss of 
many of their boats; two of which belonging to the Rota, we took 
possession of, literally loaded with their own dead. Seventeen only 
escaped from them Doth, who had swam to the shore. In another 
boat under our quarter, commanded by one of the lieutenants of the 
Plantagenet, all were killed saving four. This I have from the lieu¬ 
tenant himself, who further told me that he jumped overboard to 
save his own life. 

The duration of this action was about forty minutes. Our decks 
were now found in much confusion, our Long Tom dismounted 
and several of our carriages broken; many of our crew having 
left the vessel and others disabled. Under these circumstances 
however we succeeded in getting Long Tom in his birth, and the 
decks cleared in some sort for a fresh action, should the enemy 
attack us again before day light. About 3 A. M. I received a mes¬ 
sage from the American Consul, requesting to see me on shore, 
when he informed me the Governor had sent a note to Captain 
Lloyd, begging him to desist from further hostilities; to which 
Capt. Lloyd sent for answer that he was now determined to have 
the privateer at the risk of knocking down the whole town; and 
that if the Governor suffered the Americans to injure the privateer 
in any manner he should consider the place an enemy’s port and treat 
it accordingly. Finding this to be the case, I considered all hopes of 
saving our vessel to be at an end. I therefore went on board and 
ordered all our wounded and dead to be taken on shore, and the crew 
to save their effects as fast as possible. Soon after this it became day 
light, when the Enemys brig stood close in, and commenced a heavy 
fire on us with all her force. After several broad sides she hauled off 
having received a shot in her hull, her rigging much cut, and her 
foretopmast wounded, (of this I was informed by the British 
Consul.) She soon after came in again and anchored close to the 
privateer. I then ordered the Armstrong to be scuttled to prevent 
the Enemy from getting her off. She was soon after boarded by 
the Enemy’s boats and set on fire, which soon completed her destruc¬ 
tion. 

They have destroyed a number of houses in the town, and wounded 
some of the inhabitants. 

By what I have been able to learn from the British Consul and 
officers of the fleet; it appears there were about 400 officers and men 
in the last attack by the boats of which 120 were killed and 130 
wounded. Captain Lloyd, I am told by the British Consul is badly 
wounded in the leg; a jury of Surgeons had been held who gave as 
their opinion that amputation would be necessary to insure his life. 
’Tis said however that the wound was occasioned by an ox treading 
on him. The fleet has remained here about a week, during which 
they have been principally employed in burying their dead, and taking 
care of their wounded. 


30 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[15th Congress, 


Three days after the action they were joined by the Ship Thais & 
brig Calypso (two sloops of war.) which were immediately taken 
into requisition by Captain Lloyd to take home the wounded men. 
The Calypso saild for England with part of the wounded on the 2 d 
inst. among whom was the first lieutenant of the Plantagenet. The 
Thais sails this evening with the remainder. Capt. Lloyds fleet 
sailed to day, supposed for the West Indies. 

The loss on our part I am happy to say is comparatively trifling; 
two killed and seven wounded. With regard to my officers in general, 
I feet the greatest satisfaction in saying they one and all fought with 
the most determined bravery, and to whom I feel highly indebted 
for their ofkcerlike conduct during the short period we were together; 
their exertions and bravery deserved a better fate. 

I here insert for your inspection, a list of the killed and wounded. 

KILLED. 

Mr. Alexander O. Williams, second lieutenant, by a musket ball 
in the forehead, died instantly. Burton Lloyd, seaman, do. through 
the heart, do. 

WOUNDED. 

Frederick A. Worth, first lieutenant, in the right side. 

Robert Johnson, third lieutenant, left knee. 

Basilla Hammond, quarter master, left arm. 

John Piner, seaman, knee. 

William Castle, do. arm. 

Nicholas Scalsan. arm & leg 

John Harrison, seaman, hands & face, by the explosion of a gun. 

It gives me much pleasure to announce to you that our wounded 
are in a fair way of recovery, through the unremitted care and 
attention of our worthy surgeon. 

Mr. Dabney, our Consul, is a gentleman possessing every feeling of 
humanity, and to whom the utmost gratitude is due from us for his 
great care of the sick and wounded, and his polite attention to my 
officers and myself. 

Mr. Williams was a most deserving and promising officer. His 
country in him, has lost one of its brightest ornaments, and his 
death must be sadly lamented by all who knew his worth. 

Accompanied with this you will find a Copy of my protest, together 
with Copies of letters written by M r Dabney to the governor of Fayal, 
our Minister at Rio Janerio, and our Secretary of State. These 
letters will develope more fully the circumstances of this unfortunate 
affair. 

We expect to sail tomorrow in a Portuguese brig for Amelia Island 
who takes the whole of our crew, till when I remain, Gentlemen 
your very obedient, humble servant. 

Samuel C. Reid. 

To the Owners of the Brig 
General Armstrong. 


1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


31 


Fatal, 5 th of Oct 0 . 1814. 

Sir, 

I have the honor to State to you that a most outrageous violation 
of the neutrality of this port, in utter Contempt of the laws of civilized 
nations, has recently been committed here by the Commanders of 
his Britannic majesty’s Ships Plantagenet, Rota and Carnation, 
against the American private armed brig General Armstrong— 
Samuel C. Reid, Commander, but I have great satisfaction in being 
able to add that this occurrence terminated in one of the most 
brilliant actions on the part of Capt. Reid, his brave officers and crew, 
that can be found on Naval record. 

The American brig Came to anchor in the port in the afternoon of 
the 26 of Sentem r . and at sun set of the same day, the above named 
ships suddenly appeared in these roads; it being nearly calm in the port, 
it was rather doubtful if the privateer could escape if she got under way, 
and relying on the justice and good faith of the British Captains, it was 
deemed most prudent to remain at anchor. A little after dusk, Capt 
Reid seeing some suspicious movements on the part of the British, began 
to warp his vessel close under the guns of the Castle, and while doing 
so, he was at about eight oclock P. M. approached by four boats 
from the ships filled with armed men. After hailing them repeatedly 
and warning them to keep off he ordered his men to fire on them and 
killed and wounded several men. The boats returned the fire and 
killed one man and wounded the first lieutenant of the privateer, 
and returned to their ships, and as it was now light moonlight, it 
was plainly perceived from the brig as well as from the shore, that a 
formidable attack was premeditating. Soon after midnight, twelve 
or more large boats crowded with men from the ships and armed 
with carronades, swivels and blunderbusses, small arms &c. attacked 
the-brig: A severe contest ensued which lasted about forty minutes 
and ended in the total defeat and partial destruction of the boats, 
with a most unparalled carnage on the part of the British. It is 
estimated by good judges that near 400 men were in the boats when 
the attack commenced, and no doubt exists in the mind of the 
numerous spectators of the scene that more than half of them were 
killed and wounded; several boats were destroyed, two of them 
remained alongside of the brig, literally loaded with their own dead. 
From these two boats only 17 reached the shore alive, most of them 
were severely wounded. The whole of the following day the British 
were occupied in burying their dead, among them were two lieu¬ 
tenants and one midshipman of the Rota—the first lieutenant of the 
Plantagenet, it is said, cannot survive his wounds, and many of the 
seamen who reached their ships were mortally wounded and have 
been dying daily. The British, mortified at this signal and unex¬ 
pected defeat endeavour to conceal the extent of their loss; they 
admit, however, that they lost in killed and who have died since the 
engagement, upwards of 120 of the flower of their officers and men. 
The Captain of the Rota told me he lost 70 men from his ship. Two 
days after this affair took place, the British sloops of war Thais and 
Calypso came into port, when Capt Lloyd immediately took them 
into requisition to carry home the wounded officers and men—they 
have sailed for England, one on the 2 d . and the other on the 4 th inst. 
Each carried twenty five badly wounded. Those who were slightly 
wounded, to the number, as I am informed, of about thirty, remained 


32 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[15th Congress, 


on board their respective ships, and sailed last evening for Jamaica. 
Strict orders were given that the sloops of war should take no letters 
whatever to England, and those orders were rigidly adhered to. 

In the face of the testimony of all Fayal and a number of Respect¬ 
able strangers who happened to be in this place at the moment, the 
British Commander endeavors to throw the odium of this transaction 
on the American Captain Reid, alledging that he sent boats merely 
to reconnoitre the brig and without any hostile intention; the pilot 
of the port did inform them of the privateer the moment they entered 
the port. To reconnoitre an enemies vessel in a friendly port, at night 
with four boats, carrying, by the best accounts 120 men, is certainly a 
strange proceeding. The fact is, they expected as the brig was warping 
in, that the Americans would not be prepared to receive them, and they 
had hopes of carrying her by a coup de main. If any thing could add to 
the baseness of this transaction on the part of the British Commander, 
it is want of candour openly and boldly to avow the facts. In vain 
can he expect by such subterfuge to shield himself from the indigna¬ 
tion of the world and the merited resentment of his own government 
and nation for thus trampling on the sovereignty of their most 
ancient and faithful ally, and for the wanton sacrafice of British lives. 

On the part of the Americans the loss was comparatively nothing, 
two killed & seven slightly wounded; of the slain we have to lament 
the loss of the second lieutenant M r Alexander O. Williams, of New 
York, a brave and meritorious officer. 

Among the wounded are Mess rs Worth and Johnson, first and third 
lieutenants. Capt. Reid was thus deprived early in the action of the 
services of all his lieutenants, but his cool and intrepid conduct 
secured him the victory. 

On the morning of the 27 th ult. one of the British ships placed 
herself near the shore and commenced a heavy cannonade on the 
privateer. Finding further resistance unavailing, Capt. Reid ordered 
her to be abandoned, after being partially destroyed to prevent her 
falling into the hands of the enemy, who soon after sent their boats 
and set her on fire. 

At nine oclock in the evening, (soon after the first attack) I applied 
to the governor requesting his excellency to protect the privateer 
either by force or by such remonstrance to the Commander of the 
Squadron as would cause him to desist from any further attempt. 
The Governor, indignant at what had passed, but feeling himself 
totally unable with the slender means he possessed to resist such a 
force, took the part of remonstrating, which he did in forcible, but 
respectful terms. His letter to Capt. Lloyd had no other effect than 
to produce a menacing reply insulting in the highest degree. Nothing 
can exceed the indignation of the public authorities as well as all 
ranks and descriptions of persons here at this unprovoked enormity. 
Such was the rage of the British to destroy this vessel, that no regard 
was paid to the safety of the town; some of the inhabitants were 
wounded and a number of the houses were much damaged. The 
strongest representations on this subject are prepared by the Gov¬ 
ernor for his court. 

Since this affair, the Commander, Lloyd, threatned to send on 
shore an armed force and arrest the privateers crew, saying there 
were many Englishmen among them, and our poor fellows afraid of 


1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


33 


his vengeance have fled to the mountains several times and have been 
harassed extremely. At length Captain Lloyd fearful of losing more 
if he put his threats in execution adopted this stratagem: he addressed 
an official letter to the governor stating that in the American crew were 
two men who deserted from his squadron in America, and as they were 
guilty of high treason, he required them to be found and given up. Ac¬ 
cordingly a force was sent into the country, and the American seamen 
were arrested and brought to town, and as they could not designate 
the said pretended deserters, all the seamen here passed an examination 
of the British officers, but no such persons were to be found among 
them. I was requested by the governor and British Consul to attend 
this humiliating examination, as was also Captain Reid; but we 
declined to sanction by our presence any such proceedings. 

Capt. Reid has protested against the British Commanders of the 
Squadron for the unwarrantable destruction of his vessel in a neutral 
and friendly port, as also against the Government of Portugal for 
their inability to protect him. 

No doubt this government will feel themselves bound to make 
ample indemnification to the owners, officers and crew of this vessel 
for the great loss they have severally sustained. 

I shall as early as possible transmit a Statement of this transaction 
to our Minister at Rio Janeiro for his government. 

I have the honor to be 

With great respect, Sir 

Your most obedient Servant. 

John B. Dabney. 

To the Secretary of State of the United States. 


Made the 9 th of April 1818, and agreed to by the House. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs to whom was referred the petition 
of Samuel B. Brooke, together with the report of 
the Secretary of the Navy on the said petition, have 
had the same under consideration & 

report: 

The petitioner claims some arrearages of pay for services rendered 
in the Navy of the United States, and also states his claim to a pen¬ 
sion—The Committee refer as part of this report to the report of the 
Secretary, which is in the following words. (See Note.) The Com¬ 
mittee think the Statements contained in the report of the Secretary 
conclusive against the Claim of the petitioner, and recommend to 
the House, the following resolution: 

Resolved , That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 

Note. —The report here referred to, may be found recorded in the 
reports of the Secretary of the Navy of this Session. 

39889—10 - 3 




34 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[15th Congress, 


Made the 24 th of March 1818, and read. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the 
memorial of Jarius Loomis, Sailing master, Com- 
Lo S omis&Bass S ett ers manding the United States Gun Yessell No. 149, and 
James Bassett, Sailing master, Commanding Gun Ves¬ 
sel No. 154 on behalf of themselves and their respective crews— 

report : 

The memorialists state, that in the month of June 1816 they 
received orders from Commodore Patterson* commanding on the 
New Orleans station, requiring them to convey certain transports 
laden with ordnance, provision &c. up the rivers Apalachicola and 
Chatahouchie, to a post established by Lieut. Col. Clinch of the 
United States army. That these orders were founded on a letter 
of request from Major Gen 1 Gaines to Commodore Patterson, stat¬ 
ing the difficulty of supplying the military post on the Apalachi¬ 
cola by land, and his determination to do it by water by the assistance 
of the Commodore. In the letter of General Gaines, among the 
dangers to be apprehended in ascending the river, a Negro fort is 
mentioned and described, situated on the left bank of the river; and 
the general expresses his determination to destroy it in case it should 
attempt any opposition to his purpose; and that the memorialists 
were ordered to co-operate with the land forces. In pursuance of 
their orders aforesaid the memorialists received in charge two vessels 
laden with provisions and stores, took them under convoy and arrived 
off the river Apalachicola on the 10 th July 1816, where they received 
despatches from Col. Clinch, stating his intention to send a party of 
men to assist in conveying the transports up the river. On the 15 th 
of said month whilst the memorialists were waiting the arrival of 
said men, they discovered a boat putting out of the river, and 
dispatched one of their own boats to her to ascertain the probability 
of being able to pass the negro fort in the vicinity. On approaching 
the boat aforesaid, a volley of musketry was discharged, and she 
immediately pulled for the Shore. On the 17 th of the said month the 
memorialists dispatched a boat properly armed up the river to look 
for fresh water, under charge of a midshipman and four men; the 
boat reached the Shore near the mouth of the river, was fired on 
and captured by a party of negroes & Indians in ambuscade, the 
midshipman and two men killed, one taken prisoner and the fourth 
escaped (the prisoner was afterwards burnt by the Indians) On the 
25 of the month, in consequence of information from Col. Clinch, that 
he was approaching and near the fort, the memorialists began to 
ascend the river and arrived with their convoy at a point about four 
miles below the negro fort, where they ascertained that Col. Clinch 
had attempted to pass the fort and had been fired on whenever he 
came within reach of their guns; it was however determined to 
attempt to force a passage, and after waiting an ineffectual endeavour 
to erect a battery on Shore to annoy the fort, the memorialists on 
the 27 th of the month began to warp their vessels up the river. On 
reaching a Station within a mile and a half of the fort, the negroes 
commenced a fire on the gun vessels which was instantly returned, 
and a heavy cannonade took place on both sides for fifteen minutes, 


1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


35 


when a hot shot from one of the Gun vessels struck the Magazine 
belonging to the fort and blew it up. The fort was fought under 
the English Union Jack and bloody flag. By the explosion the fort 
was destroyed and near 270 negroes and Indians killed, the whole, 
amounting to about 300. A number of articles consisting chiefly of 
military stores fell into the hands of the Captors, part of which were 
taken possession of by Col. Clinch for the use of the troops, partly 
given to the friendly Indians, and the remainder were delivered by the 
memorialists to the United States’ oilicers at New Orleans, which 
being appraised by persons appointed for that purpose were esti¬ 
mated at a sum between 10 and dollars. The memorialists 

pray that Congress would bestow on them such part of the esti¬ 
mated value of said articles as they shall think their conduct merited. 

The Committee having considered the foregoing statement, which 
from the documents obtained from the navy department, appears to 
be substantially correct, think as tins property was acquired by the 
valor and hardships of the memorialists (and no person appearing to 
claim it) it would be proper to bestow a part of the value on them-. 
They recommend that the Secretary of the Navy be authorized to 
distribute among the officers anil crews of the Gun Vessels, one half 
the estimated value of the articles delivered at New Orleans, for 
which purpose they report a bill. 


Made the 1 st of April 1818, and ordered to lie on the Table. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs to whom were referred a resolu¬ 
tion instructing them to enquire whether any, and if any, what 
alterations are necessary and proper to be made in 
officers? 0 ° f Navy the several laws relating to the government of the 
& crefghffi" 7 Heath Navy; also, the proceedings of certain Courts martial, 
lately held in the Mediterranean for the trials of 
Capt. Oliver H. Perry, Capt. John Heath, and Capt. John O. Creigh¬ 
ton; Also the memorial of certain midshipmen belonging to the 
Mediterranean Squadron, addressed to the President of the United 
States, 

report: 

The Committee have examined the several subjects referred to 
them, and are of opinion that the general regulations for the govern¬ 
ment of the Navy do not require to be changed. With a view of 

ascertaining whether the.circumstances which lately 

transpired in the Mediterranean have grown out of a defect in the 
law, or in the administration of the law, the Committee after an 
attentive Consideration of the law and of the several cases determined 
under it, think the defect is not in the law. Their attention has been 
particularly drawn to the 3 st 14 th & 30 th sections of the “Act for the 
better government of the Navy of the United States.” The 3 d Sect, 
of said act is in the following words .... “Any officer or other per¬ 
son in the Navy who shall be guilty of oppression, cruelty &c. shall, 
if an officer, be cashiered, or suffer such other punishment as a court 
martial shall adjudge” &c—The 14 th Sect, of said act is in the follow¬ 
ing words “No officer or private in the Navy shall disobey the lawful 




36 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[15th Congress, 


orders of his superior officer, or strike him, or draw, or offer to draw 
or raise any weapon against him, while in the execution of the duties 
of his office, on pain of death, or such other punishment, as a court 
martial shall inflict.”—The 30 th Sect, of said act is in the following 
words ... “No Commanding officer shall of his own authority 
discharge a commissioned or warrant officer, nor strike nor punish 
him otherwise than by suspension or confinement &c. Any com¬ 
manding officer offending herein shall be punished at the discretion 
of a court martial.” 

It will be observed that the punishment denounced against an 
inferior officer for striking &c. his superior, may be death, or such 
other punishment as a Court martial may adjudge; whilst for a 
similar offence committed by a superior officer against an inferior, 
the punishment is such as the discretion of a Court martial may 
award. In these two articles, such an inequality of punishment is 
supposed by many to exist, as to call for a change of the law. This 
impression did not escape the attention of the Committee; but on 
mature reflection they were led to doubt the propriety of the opinion— 
Striking, drawing weapons &c. on the part of inferiors against 
superiors, in military bodies, carries along with it the idea of insub¬ 
ordination and mutiny; under such circumstances no military body 
can exist, or if it exist at all, it must be to purposes worse than useless. 
It is believed that at all times, and in all nations who had correct 
ideas of military discipline, the power to punish mutiny with death, 
has been vested in their military tribunals; nor do they think it 
could be dispensed with in this government, for they believe the 
principle to be correct, that in free governments the rigor of military 
discipline is as necessary, perhaps more so, as under governments of 
a different character; and it is a circumstance well understood, that 
persons going into military service, part for the time, with a portion 
of their civil rights. The Committee are of opinion that it would be 
inexpedient to change this part of the Naval regulations. 

Their attention was next drawn to the opposite view of the question. 
Oppression and striking inferiors by superiors are punishable, the 
first by cashiering, or such other punishment, as a court martial shall 
adjudge: the second at the discretion of a Court martial. This part 
of the subject having given rise to the late occurrences among the 
officers in the Mediterranean, claimed and received the undivided 
attention of the Committee. They examined the propriety of fixing 
some definite punishment in these cases, such as a suspension for a 
certain length of time, below which no court martial should be at 
liberty to go, in adjudging the penalty to be awarded for a Commission 
of the offence. But on mature consideration, difficulties, which the 
Committee considered as great, if not insuperable, were believed to 
attend such a provision. Let us suppose that such is the law; when 
the case comes to be examined, it is found that a number of circum¬ 
stances exist, which reduce the offence to almost nothing; or on the 
other hand, circumstances are discovered of a character so aggravated, 
as to give it a very different complexion. Let us take by way of 
illustration the two cases of Captain Perry and Capt. Creighton, 
both now under consideration of the Committee. In the former the 
Committee see circumstances of a character, which, in their opinion, 
would have justified a much more rigorous sentence of the Court 


1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


37 


martial towards that officer, as high and deserved a favorite of' his 
country as lie was; and it is with no small regret that the Com¬ 
mittee feel it their duty to express the opinion. On the other 
hand, for a charge in part of a similar character, the charge of 
striking midshipman Marston by Capt. Creighton, they see nothing 
of sufficient importance to have attracted attention. Thus situated, 
numberless shades of difference attending almost every case, which 
can be supposed to occur, the Committee believe that fixing by law 
a minimum punishment, if it were of sufficient magnitude to have any 
effect, would be improper. The Committee think a reference to our 
civil trials will illustrate this part of the Subject. Thus in the trial 
by Jury, that body exercise an entire discretion in all actions of 
assault and battery &c. and graduate the penalty to the offence, 
according to the circumstances of each case. It is also in accordance 
with the mild character of the criminal codes of most of the States 
composing this union, in which a scale of punishments is graduated 
according to the degree of the offence. The Committee know that 
where the law can be defined with propriety, the discretion of no 
tribunal whatever ought to be as much relied on as proper legal 
definitions. They have stated the difficulties which presented them¬ 
selves and which they find of such a character as to induce them to 
consider a change unadviseable. The Committee also state, that it 
would be with much reluctance they would relinquish their confidence 
in courts martial, composed of those officers whose conduct has so 
justly merited the confidence of their country. The Committee are 
aware that in examining the conduct of the Courts martial referred to 
them, the path of their duty, led over delicate ground. They know 
that no law which they could recommend, would operate otherwise 
than prospectively, and also, that they have no power to reverse or 
unsettle the decisions, but these proceedings having been referred to 
them, as connected with the subject of enquiry, that enquiry having 
in fact grown out of them, they have thought it right to express the 
opinion they have done. Indeed the body to which the Committee 
belong, and who have charged them with the enquiry, constitute the 
grand inquest of the nation, whose duty it is on proper occasions to 
enquire into the conduct of the highest officers in the government. 

The Committee then taking into consideration all the circum¬ 
stances of the cases referred to them, trusting that the officers of the 
Navy to whom are confided the important duties entrusted to courts 
martial, with a due regard to the laws of their country, ever to be 
held sacred by those entrusted with their execution, and constituting 
the only criterion between free and despotic governments, will exert 
themselves to heal the wounds with which the discipline of the Navy, 
has been at least threatned, a discipline so admirable in itself, and 
which was not known to exist ’till its effects were witnessed by the 
world, & which once lost, the Navy itself would be a useless burthen 
on the community, the Committee trusting that these highly impor¬ 
tant considerations will have their due and proper weight, conclude by 
recommending to the House the adoption of the following resolution: 

Resolved , That the Committee be discharged from the further 
consideration of the several subjects referred to them. 


38 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. [15th Cong., 1st Sess.] 


The foregoing report being read, Mr. Johnson of V* moved to 
recommit it to the Committee on Naval Affairs, with instructions 
“so to amend the act entitled “An act for the better government of 
the Navy of the United States,” approved April 23 d 1800, as to 
subject the superior officer who shall strike or draw, or offer to draw 
or raise any weapon against his inferior officer; to a forfeiture of his 
commission, and dismission from the service.” This amendment was 
ordered to lie on the table with the report. 


April 6 th 1818. 

The House took up and proceeded to consider the foregoing report 
and the question was taken and lost on M r Johnsons motion to 
recommit with the above instructions. 

The question was then taken to agree to the resolution recommended 
by the Committee. And passed in the affirmative. 


List of Bills reported at the 1 st Session of the 15 th Congress, 
by the Committee on Naval Affairs. 


1818. 
Jan: 8 

March 2 


March 4 
“ 24 


A bill authorizing John Taylor to be placed on the list of 
Navy pensioners—passed H. R. postpon d in Senate. 

A bill authorizing the distribution of a Sum of money 
among the representatives of Commodore Edward 
Preble, and the officers and crew of the brig Syren— 
not acted on. 

A bill authorizing a Sum of money to be distributed 
among the Officers & crew of the late private armed 
brig—the General Armstrong—not acted on. 

A bill authorizing the payment of Sum of money to the 
Officers and crews of Gun Boats Numbered 149 and 
154 ... . not acted on. 


End of the 1 st Session of the 15 th Congress. 





15 ,h CONGRESS, 2 1 "’ SESSION. 


In the House of Representatives 

of the United States, 

November 18 th 1818. 

A Committee on Naval Affairs was appointed consisting of 


M r Pleasants, 
M r Silsbee, 

M r Parrott, 
M r Sawyer, 

M r Schuyler, 
M r Rogers, & 
M r Bateman 


Chairman. 


Members. 


Made December, 3 rd 1818. 

Read, concurred in: Petition rejected. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs to whom was referred the petition 
of James M. Bulgin, 

report: 

The petitioner states that he is by profession a sea-faring man; 
that during the war in Europe, he was twice impressed into the naval 
service of Great Britain, and served therein several years—that 
during his last period of service, he had his eye sight so much injured 
by an accidental explosion of gun powder, that he was sent to the 
Hospital, from whence, after some stay he was discharged as an 
invalid; that he afterwards got to the United States, and during 
the late w T ar with Great Britain, served some time both in the priva- 

_ „ „ , . teer and public service of the U. States; that his 

last entry into the service, was as a seaman m the 
Sloop of War Erie fitting at Baltimore; that while there, the disease 
of his eyes returned in such manner, that he was again under the 
necessity of going into the hospital, from which, after staying some 
time he was discharged as an invalid; that since that time he has 
been deprived of his eye sight, is unable to obtain a livelihood by labor, 
is reduced to great poverty and distress with a wife and two small 
children, and prays for some aid from Congress. 

The Committee having examined this case, find, that it does not 
come within the provisions of the laws on the subject of Navy pen¬ 
sioners; they therefore recommend to the house, the following 
resolution. 

Resolved, that the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 

39 





40 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[15th Congress, 


Made December 29 th 1818, 

Accompanied with “a Bill concerning Thomas Shields and others .” 

(Bead and committed.) 

The Committee on Naval affairs to whom was referred the memo¬ 
rial of Thomas Shields, have had the same under consideration, and 
thereupon submit the following 

report: 

The memorialist states that he was a purser in the navy on the New 
Orleans station during the time of the invasion of that part of the 
United States, by the enemy during the late war with Great Britain; 
that on the morning of the 15 th of December 1814, he was ordered 
by Commodore Patterson, commanding naval officer on that station, 
to proceed under the protectoin of a flag of truce, on a special mission 
to the commander of the British fleet then in the neighbourhood of 
lake Borgne; that on his reaching the enemy then at the mouth of 
Pearle river, Admiral Cochrane the commander, through motives of 
caution, as he alleged, thought proper to detain him as a prisoner, 
and he was accordingly kept in confinement till the 13 th of January 
1815, that on his return to New Orleans, he suggested to Commo¬ 
dore Patterson the idea of an attempt to liarrass and cut off part of 
the enemy on their retreat, which from observation of their position, 
and movements he thought, although hazardous, likely to succeed; 
that on the memorialist volunteering in the enterprize, it received 
the sanction of Commodore Patterson, who put at his disposal such 
open boats as could be obtained, one of which, a launch, mounted 
a 12 pound carronade, the only piece of ordnance the memorialist 
had under his command; that with the exception of munitions of war, 
5 boats were fitted out at the private expense of the 
tolra. s ' memorialist, which were manned with about 50 
hands, chiefly volunteers; this force, under the com¬ 
mand of the memorialist, notwithstanding all their exertions, were 
unable to commence operations against the enemy, till the night of the 
19 th of January, when he captured one of their barges, and made 
prisoners of 54 men, whom he delivered at the head quarters of 
General Jackson, without any loss on the part of the memorialist. 
The memorialist further states, that on the 21 st of January, he suc¬ 
ceeded in capturing seven of the enemy’s barges with 78 men, and 
in burning a large and valuable coppered transport; that by this time 
the enemy had succeeded in regaining their shipping, when the memo¬ 
rialist returned to New Orleans: The memorialist states that nothing 
but the heavy losses sustained by him during the invasion of Loui¬ 
siana wliould have induced him to make application to Congress for 
remuneration for any exertions made by him, believing, as he does, 
that the person of every good citizen, and his means also, ought to 
be at the disposition of the government in times of emergency; but 
from the circumstance above mentioned, he is induced, respectfully to 
present himself to the notice of Congress, and ask for his services 
aforesaid, such remuneration as Congress may think they deserve. 

The Committee have considered the case of the memorialist with 
attention, and are of opinion that it is substantially correct, according 
to the evidence produced. They further state, that from the letter 
of Commodore Patterson, accompanying the memorial, the conduct 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


41 


of the memorialist is placed in the most favorable point of view on 
account of his voluntary & patriotic exertions to serve the cause of 
his country. The committee are of opinion that the case of the 
memorialist does not come under the provisions of any law making 
compensation for prisoners taken—inasmuch as the memorialist was 
in the service of the United States, and the vessels which he used 
belonged to the public, as well as their munitions of war; they think 
however, that the gallant exertions of the memorialist and his asso¬ 
ciates, who may be considered in all respects as volunteers, are 
deserving of the attention of Congress. In searching for a rule by 
which to regulate the compensation, which they think ought to be 
made in this case, they think the principle of that law which allows 
$20 for each person on board all enemy’s vessel sunk or destroyed 
in action by an equal or inferior force, most applicable, and report 
a bill grounded on that standard of compensation. 


Made January 13 th 1819 
Read, and ordered to lie upon the Table. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs to whom was referred the memo¬ 
rial of Thomas Shields, have had the same under consideration, and 

report: 

The memorialist states that during the invasion of Louisiana 
by a British force in the winter of 1814, he in his capacity of 
purser in the navy on the New Orleans station, fur- 
captured. lds forstores nished five gun vessels of the United States, then sta¬ 
tioned in lake Borgne, with stores and necessaries, for 
the supply of their crews, to the amount of $2492.8: that on the 14 th 
December, the said Gun vessels, then under the command of lieuten¬ 
ant Jones, were attacked by a superior force, and captured after a 
gallant resistance; that by reason of the said capture, the memo¬ 
rialist lost the whole of the said stores, so furnished for the use and 
comfort of the said crews, and prays remuneration from Congress. 

The Committee find upon examination that the stores above stated 
by the memorialist, were his private property consisting of sugar, 
coffee, knves, combs, &c: that by the regulations of the naval 
service, the purser is authorized to sell to the crews of the vessels, 
articles of the above description, at a limitted, but liberal advance; 
that this privilege is generally speaking very profitable to the purser, 
and is no doubt one of the great inducements to the attainment of 
that appointment in the naval service, generally sought after, the 
committee believe, with solicitude. The Committee have not been 
able to find that the public have heretofore made good any losses 
of this description, though doubtless many have occurred. Were 
this a solitary case, the committee would feel a strong disposition to 
make good the loss, on account of the general good conduct, patriotism 
and public spirit of the memorialist, which is abundantly proved; 
But the committee must act upon principles applicable to all cases of 
a similar nature. The hazard incurred in cases of this kind in time of 



42 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[15th Congress, 


war, is an ordinary one and perfectly understood it is presumed by 
all persons encountering it; it is met for the chance of the profit on 
the sales of the articles, which premium, the committee think ought 
to cover the risque, and that the United States ought not to be con¬ 
sidered as insurers in cases of this description. The Committee rec¬ 
ommend to the House the following resolution: 

Resolved, that the prayer of the petition ought not to be granted. 


Made January 5 th 1819, 

Accompanyed with “a bill concerning navy agents” 

The Committee on Naval Affairs to whom was referred a resolution, 
“ directing them to inquire into the expediency of increasing the 
Naval a ents amount of the security to be hereafter required from 
Navy agents, and also of requiring security to a 
greater amount from those now in office” have had the same 
under consideration and, 

report: 


The Committee find, upon examination, that most of the bonds 
given by Navy Agents now in office, are in the sum of $20,000 with 
two sureties; in some few instances the sum is less, and the number 
of sureties smaller, and in one or two cases, the number larger. The 
Committee refer to a document annexed to this report, marked A, 
giving the names of agents now in office, their places of residence, 
amount of bond, and number of sureties: The Committee also 
refer to a document annexed to this report, marked B, giving a list 
of the names of agents now out of office against whom balances stand 
charged in favor of the public, with the amount of those balances 
&c; the amount of bonds given, with the number of sureties as here¬ 
tofore directed by law, has been at the discretion of the president. 
The Committee think that from the large sums of money continually 

E assing through the hands of those officers, it will be proper to fix 
y law, the minimum amount of the bond, with the number of 
sureties to be given by each, before entering upon the duties of his 
office; and that after a stated period, those agents, at present in 
office, shall conform to the same rule by giving new bonds, with the 
requisite number of sureties; to effect these objects, the committee 
herewith report a Bill. 


Navy Department, December 21 st 1818. 

Sir: 

In compliance with the request of the Naval Committee of the 
House of Representatives, under date of the 9 th instant, I have the 
honor to transmit to you, herewith, a list of the Navy agents now in 
office, marked A. which designates their residence, the amount of 
bond given by each, and the names of their respective sureties. 

Also, an abstract statement, marked B. containing the names of 
former agents, and the amount of balances due by them to the 



2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


43 


United States, and with which they stand charged on the books of 
the 4 th Auditor of the Treasury. 

The losses will eventually be considerable upon the two last naval 
agencies at Norfolk. The precise state of the accounts of the late 
navy agent at New York, cannot at present, be ascertained. 

The returns from Navy agents are made every three months, by a 
special requisition from this department, dated 21 st November 1817, 
addressed to the agents respectively, in form of a circular. 

I have the honor to be, 

With great respect, sir, 

Your most obedient servant, 

J. C. Calhoun, 

Acting Secretary of War. 

Hon ble James Pleasants, Junior. 


(A.) 


Names of Navy Agents of the United States; where situated , the amount of their bonds 
and the number and names of the sureties to each. 


Names. 

Where situated. 

Amo* of 
bond. 

Sureties names. 

John L. Storer. 

Portland, D. Me. 

$20,000 

20,000 

Seth Storer, Joseph Storer. 

John Langdon, y, Edward Cutts. 

Jacob Rhoades, Jo*. N. Howe, Eben. Lar¬ 
kin, Jn° Binney. 

Henry S. Langdon. 

Portsmouth, N. H_ 

Amos Binney. 

Boston, Mass. 

20,000 

Constant Taber. 

Newport, R. I. 

20,000 
10,000 

James Fenner. 

Joseph Hull. 

Middletown, Con. 

Canfield Gillet, W m Thompson, Sami j. 
Andrews, Ja Lewis. 

Robert Swartwout. 

New York. 

10,000 

20,000 

John Swartwout, William Irving. 

Charles Francis. 

George Harrison. 

Philadelphia. 

James Riddle. 

Newcastle, Del. 

20,000 

20,000 

20,000 

George Reed. 

Nathan Levering, George Williams. 
Hanson Kelly, Aaron Lazerus, Rich d 
Bradley. 

James Beatty. 

Baltimore ' Md. 

Joshua Potts". 

Wilmington, N. C. 

Arcb d S. Bullock. 

Savannah, G*°. 

10,000 

20,000 

20,000 

John H. Morel, Tho® Burke. 

William Hollister. 

Jer h Brown. 

Newburn, N. C. 

Miles King. 

Norfolk, Virga. 

Rob‘ C. Jennings, John Hodges. 

James Morrison. 

Lexington, Ken. 

20,000 

20,000 

20,000 

Charles Wilkins, Lewis Sanders. 

John Morgan. 

Hartford, Con‘. 

Moses Fryon, p. 

Rich d Cunningham, Steph Shrewsbury, 
Fred* Kohn. 

Jn° Robertson. 

Charleston, S. C. 

Jn° Randall. 

Annapolis, Md. 

10,000 

20,000 

John Muir, John Johnson. 

William Hawkins, D. A. Smith. 

Jn° K. Smith. 

New Orleans. 














































44 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[15th Congress, 


Relating to Navy 
agents. 


B 


A list of Navy Agents, who are now out of service, exhibiting the balances due from each, 
as appears by the books of this office, and those of the accountant of the Navy. 


Names. 


Dani Ludlow. 


Dan 1 Bedinger. 

W m Smith, Sen. 

W m Smith & C°. 

Sam 1 Brown. 

Archd Campbell. 

W m Crafts. 

Sam 1 Storer. 

John Beekman. 

Thed. Armistead. 

John H. Fawn. 

N 1 Ingraham & Son.. 

Jn° Strieker. 

Jn° Bullus. 


Residence. 


New York. 


Norfolk, Va. 

Charleston, S. C. 

Do. 

Boston. 

Baltimore. 

Charleston, S. C. 

Portland, Maine. 

New York. 

Norfolk, Va. 

Do. 

Charleston, S° Carol. 

Baltimore. 

New York. 


Balances 
due the U. 
States. 


1,7G9.27 


, ,28 th July 1810 


18.23 
1,421.64 
863.56 
1,527.03 
3,030. 73 
707.64£ 

271.61 
.30 

241,217.86 
151,483.93 
21,649. 95 
.50 

560,141. 94 

must be added this sum credited by him, in his accounts on file under 
tion received for the U. S. brig Tom Bowline..*. 


Remarks. 


Transferred from the ac¬ 
countants office to 1 st 
Comptro lr of Treas¬ 


ury. . 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 


.20 th Jany 
. .20 th Jan-v 
..28 July 
. .20 Jany 
. .20 Jany 
. ,9 th Mar 


1816 

1816 

1810 

1816 

1810 

1810 


These balances hav¬ 
ing been transferred 
from the books of 
the Acc» of the 
Navy, to the books 
of the Register of 
theTreasy previous 
to the establishm‘ 
of this office; their 
final result can only 
be known by ref ce 
to the Registers Of¬ 
fice. 


to this balance of.$560,141.94 


examina- 


6,388.00 


566,529. 94 

From which amount is to be deducted his expenditures, from 1st to the 30 th June 1818, as 
appears by his accounts on file in this office. 268,458. 37 

leaving a balance against him of.. $298,071. 57 


As no account of his expenditures from the 1 st July 1818 to the day 
of his death (the latter end of September following) has been received, 
the actual balance against him cannot be ascertained: His expendi¬ 
tures for that period, judging from the two proceeding quarters will 
probably amount to about $130,000, to which may be added the last 
remittance made him of $40,000 and by him received a few hours 
previous to his death, no part of which it is presumed, has been 
expended. 

By a regulation of the Treasury department, adopted the 21 st 
November 1817, the agents were required to transmit their accounts 
for settlement quarterly: This regulation has been generally complied 
with by the agents since that period. 


Made January 4 th 1819. 

Accompanied with “A Bill authorizing the payment of a sum of 
money to Thomas Shields. Read and committed. 

The Committee on Naval affairs, to whom was referred the memorial 
of Thomas Shields, have had the same under consideration, and 
submit the following, 

report: 

The memorialist states, that Commodore Shaw, whilst lie com¬ 
manded the naval force of the United States on the New Orleans 
station, caused to be built a public store-house for the use of the 
United States; that this storehouse was built at the Bay of S fc Louis, 
on a lot belonging to the memorialist, and by him voluntarily 












































2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


45 


tendered for that purpose; that the said house, at the time of the 
attack of the enemy at that point, on the 13 th of December, 1814, 
contained stores, (for the supply of the crews of vessels attached to 
the station) belonging to the memorialist of the value of $4,887.96. 
That previous to the attack of the enemy, the memorialist had 
erected, principally at his own expense, a small two gun battery, for 
the protection of the said store, and the property contained in it; 
from which a fire so steady and well directed was kept up, that the 
enemy was baffled in his several attempts to effect a landing, till the 
night of the 13 th of December, 1814, when a positive order was 
received by the person having charge of the said store, from Lieutenant 
Jones, commanding the detachment of naval force on the station, 
directing the same to be blown up and destroyed, which was accord¬ 
ingly done; that atjacent to the said public stores, was a building 
belonging to the memorialist, and materials for other buildings of 
the value of $1,693.10, to which the fire produced by burning of the 
public store, extended, whereby the said building and materials were 
totally destroyed. The memorialist states his whole loss occasioned 
by the burning of the public store aforesaid, to amount to the sum of 
$6,581.6 cents, for which he prays remuneration from Congress, if 
they shall think his claim just. 

The committee having considered this case with attention, are of 
opinion, that it is supported by testimony exhibited. The stores 
which were property destroyed by the burning of the 
stOTes burnt. h 1 e 1 ^ s> public storehouse, by order of the United States 
officer commanding on the station, to prevent their 
falling into the hands of the enemy, were lodged in that place by the 
memorialist, for the use of the naval force in the neighbourhood; 
they were of the kind, and quality always furnished for such purposes, 
by pursers in the navy, which was the office held by the memorialist, 
and the public store, from which they could be easily and quickly 
put on board the vessels requiring them, appears to have been the 
most natural place for their deposit; that independent of the merits 
of the memorialist, in voluntarily tendering a situation for the 
erection and use of this building for public purposes, and erecting a 
battery principally at his own expense, the Committee think, under 
all the circumstances of the case, compensation ought to be made to 
the memorialist for the loss of the stores aforesaid, and his house and 
building materials adjacent to the said storehouse, and consumed by 
the fire which caught from the burning of the same; and for this 
purpose, they herewith report a bill. 


Made February 26 th 1819. 

Read, agreed to—leave to withdraw. 

The Naval Committee, to whom was referred the petition of James 

J ames W arren. ^ arren . 

REPORT: 

The petitioner states that in the year 1779 he was a lieutenant of 
marines on board the alliance frigate belonging to the United States, 
then commanded by Peter Landais Esquire. That during a cruise 


46 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[15th Congress, 


that year on the coast of England, in company with the ship Bon 
Homme Richard, commanded by Paul Jones, they took two valuable 
English ships and carried them into Bergen in Norway; that the said 
prizes were demanded by the British government, an dsurrendered 
to them by the Danish government, or placed out of reach of the 
captors, notwithstanding the remonstrances of the French govern¬ 
ment against the surrender: The petitioner further states, he has 
understood that the Danish government have directed latterly, that 
the value of said vessels should be paid to the claimants: He also 
states, that he understands Congress have made a specific grant to 
Peter Landais on account of his claim. 

The Committee observe that the claim of Peter Landais has been 
several times presented to Congress, and as a claim upon the principles 
above stated, they believe, always rejected. It is true, Congress made 
a grant of money to Peter Landais, but that grant was made under 
circumstances, of a character, so peculiar, that it ought not to be 
considered as deciding the principles of this case, which the Com¬ 
mittee think are in opposition to the Claim as to prizes made by the 
public ships—the proceeds are, when brought safe into port, and 
legally condemned by a proper tribunal, to be divided, where the 
captured vessels are inferior in force, as in this case, between the 
government and the captors—and it does seem proper, that they 
ought jointly to incur the hazards of recapture, loss &c. If a prize 
is taken and run into the nearest neutral port, and by any means 
lost to the Captors, without the default of tlie government, it would 
be made to stand in the place of insurers of the property and the 
captors placed in a much more eligible situation than they would 
otherwise be; as they would then escape the dangers of the sea, of 
recapture &c which would be incurred by carrying the prize vessels 
into the ports of their own country for adjudication. The Com¬ 
mittee observe that this principle has been recognized in one case at 
least, during the late war, they allude to one of the prizes made by 
Captain Stewart of the frigate Constitution, near the Cape de Verd 
islands, and taken out of a Porteguese port by the British under the 
guns of the fort: the proper mode of proceeding in such cases, is, for 
the government to obtain redress of such neutral, by negotiation, or 
otherwise; that mode lias been pursued in the present case, but has 
not yet terminated in a successful result. 

The Committee recommend to the House, the following resolu¬ 
tion : 

Resolved , that the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition 
and documents. 


Made March 2 nd 1819. 

Read and concurred in by the House. 

The Committee on Naval affairs, to whom was referred the report 
Navy pension fund. of commissioners of the Navy pension fund, made 
to this house during the present session, have had the 
same under consideration, and thereupon 



2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


47 


report: 

That by the laws of the United States, regulating the distribution 
of prize money, the proceeds of the sales of all captured vessels and 
their cargoes, condemned as good prize to any of the public armed 
vessels of the United States, where the captured vessel is of inferior 
force, shall go, one half to the captors, and the other to the United 
States. That by a law passed m April, 1800, it is among other 
things provided, that all money accruing, or which has already 
accrued to the United States for the sale of prizes, shall be, and 
remain forever a fund for the payment of pensions and half pay, 
should the same be hereafter granted to the officers and seamen who 
may be entitled to receive the same, &c. By the same act it is 
further provided, that the fund shall be under the management of 
the secretary of the Navy, the secretary of the Treasury and the 
secretary of War, for the time being, who are authorized, who are 
authorized to receive the money, invest the same, make a report of 
their proceedings to Congress, Ac. This act was the origin of the 
Navy Pension Fund. By an additional act of Congress, passed in 
March, 1804, some further regulations are made, as to the manner 
in which the money shall be received and disbursed, which is to be 
by the treasurer of the United States; and also that the Comptroller 
shall be authorised to institute suits against defaulters, as in other 
sases of public defaulters. That the laws regulating the institution 
remained in this state until the commencement of the late war with 
Great Britain. When captures of prizes from the enemy became 
numerous, and condemnations in the different Courts began to take 
place, it was found that frequent omissions occurred in making the 
returns of those condemnations necessary to enable the commissioners 
of the fund to use the proper remedy in recovering the amount due 
to the United States, and belong to the fund. This induced the 
necessity of carrying on an extensive, troublesome and generally 
fruitless correspondence with the Officers of the Courts, whose duty 
it was to attend to the interests of the United States. The result of 
the correspondence carried on at different periods by order of the 
Board of Commissioners, with those officers is particularly detailed 
in the report of the Commissioners referred to this Committee, and 
is too long to be inserted here, and is the less necessary, as the copy 
of said report, is in the hands of each member. It is sufficient to 
say, that the inattention to the calls of the commissioners, and the 
serious amount of sums due from some of the officers, was such, as 
to induce the commissioners to request the passage of an act affording 
additional sanctions to compel a compliance with the various pro¬ 
visions of law on the subject. A draught of the bill ultimately passed 
into a law was forwarded to the proper Committee by the commis¬ 
sioners, drawn up it appears with much care, and providing, the 
Committee think, every sanction necessary to enforce a compliance 
with the provisions of the laws on the subject, provided they were 
carried into effect. It appears however, that from some cause or 
other, the Committee know not what, unless it be the omission of 
that attention to the subject, to which it is certainly, from its character 
most eminently entitled, much remains yet to be done, to secure the 
interest of the fund; a fund bottomed upon benevolence and human¬ 
ity, to a most meritorious and important class of the community, and 


48 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. [15th Cong., 2d Sess.] 


eminently entitled, not only to justice , but the liberal exertions of all, 
whose duty it is to attend to its interest; upon a view of all the 
circumstances of the case, the committee think that no additional 
legislative provisions are necessary, and that the defects manifested, 
have not been in the laws, but in their administration. They recom¬ 
mend to the House, the adoption of the following resolution: 

Resolved, that the Commissioners of the Navy pension fund, be 
instructed to use all means which the laws place within their power, 
to coerce payment of all balances due to the fund, from all persons 
who may be found indebted to the same; and that they report to 
the House of Representatives, at an early period of the next Session 
of Congress, a particular statement of the means which have been used, 
and the success of those means, in accomplishing the objects of this 
resolution; and also, that they report whether any, and what addi 
tional legislative provisions may be necessary to compel a compliance 
with the different provisions of the laws on this subject. 


16"‘ CONGRESS, I s ' SESSION. 


In the House of Representatives 

of the United States, 

'December 8 th 1820. 

A Committee on Naval Affairs was appointed consisting of 

M r Pleasants, Chairman. 

M r Silsbee, 

M r Johnson, 

M r Wendover, 

M r Warfield, 

M r Hall, of N° Ca. and 
M r Dennison. 


} Members. 


Made January 20, 1820, 

Accompanied with a Bill for the relief of James Merrill. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of James Merrill, 


report: 


That the petitioner states that he left his native town of Buxton, 
in the District of Maine, on the 8 th March 1813, an enlisted as an 
ordinary seaman in the naval service of the United States, at Port¬ 
land, under the late Lieutenant Babbit: that the following day, he, 
with others, left Portland for Washington, where he was attached to, 
and from whence he subsequently went to sea, in the United States 
ship Adams, under the command of Cap* Charles Morris: That while 
at sea, in said ship sometime in the month of May 1814, at the time 
the crew were taking their Hammocks, below, at night, the weather 
being bad, and the haches crowded, he fell from the gun deck, into 
the hold of the ship, and injured himself very materially, of which, 
however, he did not, at the time of the accident, inform the surgeon, 
but soon finding himself unable to perform his duty, he made known 
his sitiation to Doct r Dayer (surgeon of the ship) who told him, he 
was ruptured in his body, gave him a truss, directed him not to do 
hard duty, and said that when the ship arrived in the United States 
he ought to be discharged, and would be entitled to a pension. 

The petitioner further states, that the Adams arrived in the 
Penobscot river in August, and on the approach of the British, was 
destroyed on the 3 rd of September 1814, —that he then went to 
Portsmouth N. H. and there remained until discharged on the 6 th of 
39889—10 - A 49 




50 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[16th Congress, 


March 1815. That he was in sound and perfect health when he 
enlisted in the naval service, and until he received the injury by 
falling from the Gun deck, into the hold; that since his discharge 
from the public service, he has applied to Doct r Dayers (the surgeon 
of the ship) for a certificate which would entitle him to a pension, 
and was informed by the Doctor, that having lost all his papers by 
the destruction of the ship, and not recollecting his case, he could 
not grant him such certificate: thus situated, his debility increasing 
& unable to support himself & family, he applies to Congress for 
relief. 

Royal Brewster, Physician in the aforesaid town of Bruxton, 
testifies, on oath, that the said Merrill lived with him as a labourer 
in 1811 and until Nov. 1812, that he was then an active, strong and 
well man; that after an absence of about two years, during which 
time he understood that he was in the naval service of the United 
States, he called on him as a Physician, for assistance, and on exam¬ 
ination he found him badly ruptured; that on a late examination, 
he found his rupture worse than when he first examined him, and 
unfit to do any hard labor—that he was fully satisfied that said 
Merrill could not have been ruptured, when he lived with him. 

David Coffin, another Physician of Buxton, also testifies on oath, 
that said Merrill lived with him from November 1812 to March 1813— 
that he has no doubt but that the rupture in his body is the cause of 
his inability to labor; that he is fully satisfied that said Merrill could 
not have been ruptured when he lived with him. 

Both these Physicians certify that said Merrill is a man of veracity 
and good moral character, and unable to support his family. 

The fact of his having fallen from the Gun deck & thereby sus- 
ja* Merrill tained an injury, is supported by the testimony of 

Ebenezer Ballard, carpenter on board the ship. 

The Committee after due consideration of this case, are of opinion 
that the petitioner is entitled to a pension, and therefore report a 
bill. 


Made January 27 1820. 

Read, concurred in, petition rejected. 

The Committee on Naval affairs to whom was referred the petition 
jn« Russell. of John Russell, 

REPORT: 

That the petitioner represents, that he was a marine in the Naval 
service of the United States, prior to, and in the year 1803; that he 
is now old, poor and infirm, and unable to labour "for his subsistence, 
and prays that in consideration of the services rendered by him while 
in the public service, he may be placed on the list of Navy pensioners. 

As neither precedent nor principle would authorise the petitioner 
to be placed on the Navy pension list, the Committee recommend 
that the prayer of the petition be not granted. 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


51 


Made February 10 th 1820. 

Read, and ordered to lie upon the Table. 

The Committee on Naval all airs to whom was referred the petition 
Robtsneison. of Robert Snelson, 

REPORT: 

That the petitioner states that his son Robert L. Snelson was a 
midshipman in the naval service of the United States, and was 
attached to the Sloop of War Argus, at the time of her capture by 
the British; that during the cruise of that vessel, they captured three 
vessels of the enemy, which arrived safe in the ports of the United 
States; that his son died at Boston, while in the service of the 
United States, in November 1817, without having received his share 
of prize monei^ accruing from the proceeds of those prizes/and prays 
Congress to order whatever may have been due to his son, to be paid 
over to the petitioner. 

t By the laws regulating the distribution of prize money, in the 
Naval service, the government receive only that portion appertaining 
to the Navy pension fund, the residue belongs to the officers and 
crew, and is subject to their order, or that of their agent, as soon as 
decreed by the court, therefore if the Prize which belonged to the 
son of the petitioner was not received by him, it must have been 
in consequence of neglect on his part, or that of his agent. The 
Committee therefore recommend that the petitioner have leave to 
withdraw his petition. 


Made February 10 th 1820. 

Read and ordered to lie upon the Table. 

The Committee on Naval affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
Hannah m. Bald- of Hannah M. Baldwin, 

win. 

REPORT: 

That the petitioner states, that her late husband, Doctor William 
Baldwin, was attached to the Naval Service of the United States, 
first as Surgeons mate, and then as Surgeon from 1812 to 1817 (a part 
of which time he was aided in the performance of his duties by the peti¬ 
tioner) that he was then appointed to accompany the Commissioners 
to South America, in the United States frigate Congress, as Surgeon and 
naturalist to the mission, and that after his return from S° America, 
he was employed by the government, as Surgeon and Botanist, in 
the expedition up the Missouri; that his health was feeble when he 
left home to proceed on this expedition, and that he died at a village 
on the Missouri, in September last, leaving a wife and four infant 
daughters. She therefore asks of Congress, that for the services of her 
late husband (which she conceives to have been such as to have 
impaired his health and shortened his life) she may be allowed a 
pension. 


52 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[16th Congress, 


The Committee are disposed to believe the statements of the 
petitioner to be correct, although unsupported by any testimony 
whatever, nor is it shewn, or even said, that the bounty of the govern¬ 
ment, though asked for, is needed, and if it were, the case does not 
come within any principle upon which the pension laws of the United 
States are founded: they therefore submit the following resolu- 
tion: 

Resolved that the petitioner have leave to withdraw her petition. 


Made February 17 th 1820. 

Read, and ordered to lie upon the Table. 

The Committee on Xaval affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
Caroline Monteath. of Caroline N. Monteath, 

report: 

That the petitioner states, that her late husband was a Lieutenant 
in the naval service of the United States; that he served in Com¬ 
modore M c Donough’s squadron, on Lake Champlain, and that at 
the time of his death (in October last) he was attached to the navy 
yard, in New Hampshire; She therefore prays Congress to take into 
consideration the distressed situation of herself and her infant child, 
and to grant her such relief as they deem fit and proper. 

Although it is alleged that the sickness and death of Lieutenant 
Monteath was, probably, caused by his exposure while attached to the 
navy yard, yet the Committee cannot make out the case of the 
petitioner to be such as to entitle her to the bounty of government; 
they therefore recommend, that she have leave to withdraw her 
petition and papers. 


Made February 24 th 1820. 

Read, and ordered to lie upon the Table. 

The Committee on Naval affairs, to whom was referred the peti- 
Lbigaii Femaid tion of Abigail Fernald of Portsmouth New Hamp¬ 
shire, 

REPORT: 


That the petitioner states, that her late husband William Fernald 
was prize master on board the private armed vessel, the Harpy; 
that m Nov r 1814 he was put in charge of the British Ship Garland, 
prize to the Harpy; that while proceeding in the Ship for a Port in 
the United States, he met, and was captured by the British Ship of 
War Ilamadryade; that the said Fernald & his crew were taken on 
board the said British Ship, carried to England & lodged in Dartmoor 
prison, where he died of sickness, which is alleged to have been caused 
by the improper treatment which he experienced while a prisoner on 
board the British Ship. 




1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


53 


As this case does not come within the provisions of any existing 
law, and as the Committee think it inexpedient to extend those 
provisions at this time; They recommend, that the prayer of the 
petitioner be not granted. 


Made March 7 th 1820. 

Read, and ordered to lie upon the Table. 

The Committee on naval affairs, to which was referred the resolu¬ 
tion adopted by the House, on the 5 th of January last, directing an 
enquiry “into the expediency of suspending for a 
Naval expenditures ! 16 limited time, so much of the standing appropriation 
of $1,000,000 for the increase of the Navy, as may be 
consistent with the public service, and also enquire whether any 
other reduction of the expenses of the Navy can be made consistent 
with the public service’’ 

report: 

That they have carefully considered the several important subjects 
referred to them: They have carefully and diligently investigated 
the expenditures of the standing appropriation made by the act of 
the 29 th of April 1816, for the gradual increase of the Navy. 

In prosecuting this investigation, the Committee received promptly 
from the Navy department, every facility and statement necessary 
to aid them in arriving at a true and rational conclusion: The Com¬ 
mittee here respectfully refer to the letter of the Secretar\ r of the 
Navy, dated February 4 th 1820, and the documents therein referred 
to, all which accompany this report: They have also, so far as they 
deemed it compatible with their duty, enquired into the expenses 
of the Navy, with the view to comply with the second enquiry 
directed by the resolution above referred to. 

Without entering into a minute, and detailed report of the progress 
made in building and equipping the ships authorised to be built and 
equipped, by the act above referred to, the necessity of such detailed 
report, being superseded by the statement of the Commissioners of 
the Navy, marked A. The Committee will in discharge of the duties 
enjoined on them, present to the view of the House, some of the most 
important facts which have influenced their deliberations, and con¬ 
ducted them to the conclusions at which they have arrived. By the 
act of the 29 th of April 1816, nine ships are authorised to be built, to 
rate not less than seventy four guns each. Of that number, one 
ship is launched and nearly ready for sea. Five are now building, 
(four of which number, it is expected will be launched during the 
next summer, and one in thp course of the next year) the frames of 
the other three are contracted for, and nearly all the materials 
received at the navy yards, and ten ships, to rate not less than 
forty four guns each, are also authorised to be built; of this number, 
one is now building, the frames of the other nine are all contracted 
for, and most of them received at the navy yards, all the pine plank, 
and all the oak knees required for all the ships, have been contracted 
for, these are large and essential articles in building, most of the 



54 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[16th Congress, 


copper for all the ships, has been procured, the frames and other 
very valuable articles for the three steam batteries have been con¬ 
tracted for, as appears by statement A. Such arrangements have 
been made for the completion of the whole number of vessels author¬ 
ised to be built, by the act above recited, as to leave no doubt, that 
the annual appropriation, if continued, will be amply sufficient to 
effectuate the great national objects, contemplated by Congress at 
the passage of the law, many of the articles now on hand could not 
be preserved without great expense, such as the erection of sheds 
and buildings to protect them from the effects of the weather. Some 
of the materials, and those the most scarce and valuable, it is believed 
could not be effectually preserved, even under sheds. The live oak, 
it is said, is liable to rents and other injuries from the action of the 
atmosphere. The Commissioners of the Navy express the fear, that 
it would be impracticable to replace the live oak frames, should they 
receive injury, and make the following communication “ that they have 
received information from an unquestionable source, that the British 
government have now an agent in this Country, for the purpose of 
obtaining live oak frames for Twenty ships, and should they succeed 
in obtaining them, the quantity of that timber in our Country will 
be so exhusted, that but little of consequence will be left.” An 
efficient, and skillful body of men, amounting to 1600, composed of 
mechanick’s, artificers and labourers are now engaged at the different 
building yards, labour, materials for building, and provisions are 
represented to be lower than they have been for a long time past. 
A suspension of the annual appropriation, or a portion of it, even for 
a limited time, would produce derangement in the plans already 
adopted. Workmen of skill and integrity, who are known to the 
officers of government, must necessarily be discharged, it would be 
difficult on emergency to obtain the same; or other workmen of equal 
skill and integrity. The prudent and judicious arrangements made 
by the Commissioners of the Navy, to obtain ordnance of the best 
quality, and on reasonable terms, and thereby to guard against the 
recurrence of those distressing accidents which resulted from defective 
ordnance, prior to the year 1816, their equally judicous arrange¬ 
ments, to obtain at all times, either of War or peace. “Supplies of 
canvas of our own manufacture, so that this essential article of naval 
equipment we might be at all times independent,” would by a sus¬ 
pension, of the annual appropriation, or any portion of it, to a certain 
extent be defeated “The principle of confining the expenditures, to 
the amount appropriated (seems to have been) invariably observed 
by the Commissioners of the Navy. 

The Committee are irresistably led to the conclusion, that true 
economy, and the best interests of the nation, are opposed to a sus¬ 
pension, even for a limited time, of any portion of the sum annually 
appropriated, for the gradual increase of the navy of the United States. 

In obediance to the second enquiry directed by the resolution of 
the 5 th of January—Viz 1 “Whether any other reduction of the 
expenses of the Navy can be made, consistent with 
expenStmes ng Naval the public service,”—The Committee respectfully 
remark, that this enquiry appears, more particularly 
to fall within the cognizance of the Committee of Ways and Means. 
This Committee however turned their attention to" the subject. 
They obtained from the department of the Navy, shewing the class, 


1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


55 


names, force and station of all the public vessels of the United States 
in active employment, and the number of officers & men attached 
to each,” which statement accompanies this report, is marked B. 
By this statement it appears that the whole number of officers and 
men attached to the vessels of the United States, is 4,354—That of 
this number 1,399 including officers and men, are employed in the 
Mediterranean Squadron. The Committee also obtained from the 
same department, a “ Statement of the Xaval force of the Barbary 
powers, copied from a report made bv Commodore Isaac Chauncey, 
dated the 23 d of October 1817.” This statement marked C. accom¬ 
panies this report. 

The Committee have not been able to ascertain where anv essential 
reduction can be made in the expenses of the Navy, without reducing 
the establishment. 


Navy Department, February 4 th 1820. 

Sir— 

I have the honor to transmit to you, in compliance with your 
letter of the 20 th Ultimo, as Chairman of the Naval Committee of 
the House of Representatives, the documents herewith, marked 
A. B & C, which have been prepared, with a view to meet all the 
enquiries suggested by the Committee, in relation to the naval 
affairs of the United States. 

Paper A. contains a full and explicit statement of facts from the 
Board of Navy Commissioners, with their opinions upon the most 
material points, relative to the gradual increase of the Navy, in all 
of which I, entirely concur, and believe the best interests of the 
Nation to be inseparably blended with the completion of the original 
views of Congress, to establish a permanent and respectable naval 
force. 

Papers B & C are statements in answer to the other enquiries, 
which embrace all those contained in your communication. 

In delation to the enquiry concerning the contingent appropriation, 
I would further remark, that the charges included under that head 
of expenditure are numerous, and vary every year in many incidental 
circumstances, which cannot be foreseen at the time of making the 
estimate for the general service, in addition to which, more or less is 
paid every year, in consequence of the settlement of old accounts, 
even as far back as the commencement of the late war; and it is 
apprehended, that this head of appropriation could not be divided, 
without producing inconvenience to the service, and inevitable sus- 

E ension of many claims, the extent and nature of which will be seen 
y a reference to a report from this department, to Congress, made 
on the 2 nd instant. 

The contingencies of freight, transportation by land and water, 
and those of the Recruiting service, are in themselves to precarious 
to admit of a more specific classification. I have the honor to be 
With very great respect, 

Sir, Your most obedient Servant 

Smith Thompson. 

Hon ble Nathaniel Silsbee, Chairman of ) 
the Naval Committee, House of Rep 8 j 


56 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[IGth Congress, 


A. 

Navy Commissioners Office, 31 st January 1820. 

Sir— 

In reply to such part of the queries propounded in the letter of the 
honorable N. Silsbee, as appear connected with the duties entrusted 
to the Commissioners of the Navy, they have now the honor to make 
the following communication. 

Query 1 st What number of ships, to rate not less than 74 guns 
each—What number to rate not less than 44 guns, have, by virtue 
of the Act entitled “An act for the gradual increase of the Navy” 
been commenced ? 

Answer. Six ships, to rate not less than 74 guns, and one ship to 
rate not less than 44 guns. 

Query 2 nd What number have been finished ? 

Answer. One, rating not less than 74 guns. 

Query 3 rd What is the state of progress of those now building ? 

Answer. The following is the state of progress of the ships now 
building, viz: 

SHIP OF THE LINE AT NORFOLK. 

Timbering all complete. Planking completed from keel to rail, 
with the exception of garboard strake & skutters; planking inside, 
or cieling completed from keelson to rail, with the exception of 
spirketing on orlop, lower & 2 gun deck—poop deck, six beams in, 
and kneed. Spar deck beams, all in and kneed, with the exception 
of hanging knees. Deck framed and dubbed off for plank; water¬ 
ways in & secured: Upper gun-deck beams all in, but not kneed. 
Lower gun-deck, twenty five beams in, and six of them kneed. 
Orlop deck beams in and kneed, Deck framed and dubbed off ready 
for planking. Breast hooks all in and fitted except two. Diagonal 
riders all in, and partly secured. Fore and main steps all in, and 
fitted. Stern plank up, inside and out. Cat-heads fitted—rail on 
fore and aft, and secured. Bottom bored off ready for treenails and 
now treenailing. 


SHIP, TO RATE NOT LESS THAN 44 GUNS, AT WASHINGTON. 

Keel laid, stern and stern-post frame raised—floor timbers bolted— 
and the remainder of the frame prepared & prepairng to raise. 


SHIP OF THE LINE AT PHILADELPHIA. 

Timbering all complete part of the fillings in, has on all the strings, 
drifts, channel wales, main-wales and twenty nine 
Naval expenditures 116 strakes of plank on the bottom. Cieled up and the 
orlop deck clampsin beams in—four breast hooks 
fastned, and the fifth faying. Orlop deck transom rider fayed. 
All her ports formed and sills fitted, except the bridle port on the 
lower gun deck, and the stern chase ports in the poop. Lower 






1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


57 


gun-deck beams in—stern timbered and partly planked. Carlings 
for all the decks, mizen steps and support underneath got out. 
Bilge bolts drove—part of the butt bolts, and bolts through thick 
strakes on—first futtock heads driven—diagonal riders more than 
one third got out. 


, SHIP OF THE LINE AT NEW YORK. 

Timbering and planking inside and out completed, topside 
caulked—orlop, lower gun deck, upper gun deck and spar deck laid, 
and partly caulked—galleries and nead building—tree nailing her 
bottom and squaring it ready for the caulkers. 


SHIP OF THE LINE AT BOSTON. 

The whole frame up, except the stern timbers, long and short top- 
timbers and filling in pieces—the plank from the bilge strake up to 
the lower port sills, on, except six strakes under the wales—lower 
port sills all in, Channel wale fitting—Long top timbers over the 
ports putting in. 


SHIP OF THE LINE AT PORTSMOUTH, N. H. 

Keel laid, false keel on. Deadwood on except the forward piece. 
The main, inner and false post, 3 transoms and S timbers of the 
fashion pieces, finished, and ready for framing the stern—twenty 
nine floor timbers fayed to the keel—and four fifth parts of the 
timber sided, moulded and bevelled, ready to make the frames. 

Ql^ery 4 th What is the character of the materials now on hand ? 

Answer. The materials now on hand, consist of 


Materials of Wood. 


Materials of Metal. 


Query 5 th Are the most valuable, such as would be liable to injury 
by keeping ? or are they of that character which would require them 
to be immediately to the purposes of building ? 


Live Oak. 
White Oak, 
Yellow Pine, 
White Pine, 
Ash, 

Lignum Vi tie 

Maple, 

Locust, 

Cannon, 

Carronades, 

Balls, 

Anchors, 

Copper, 

Iron, 

Lead Ac. 






58 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[16th Congress, 


Answer. The Cannon, Carronades, ball, anchors, copper, iron and 
lead would not be liable to injury by keeping; but all the materials 
of wood, unquestionably would be liable to serious injury by keeping, 
and their immediate application to the purposes of building, would 
certainly be advisable: Were it determined not to apply them to 
this purpose immediately, sheds for their preservation would be 
indispensably necessary, and even under sheds, the most valuable 
and durable of this timber, the live oak, is liable to rents and other 
injuries from the action of the atmosphere. It will be remembered 
that out of the six frames provided under the Act of 1799, it was 
found, when we commenced building ships of the line, that we had 
not timber enough to complete three ships, and it was observed that 
all the residue of the live oak timber then provided, was rendered 
unfit for naval purposes by rents, although it was placed under 
sheds, and the pine and white oak timber which had been collected 
for the same purpose, although placed under sheds, were entirely 
destroyed. 

Query 6 th What are the engagements of the Government by 
contracts for materials for building, labor and all necessary expendi¬ 
tures ? 

Answer. The engagements of the Government by contracts for 
materials for building are, 


For live oak timber. 

For Copper. 

For Anchors. 

For Beams, ledges, long combings, keel and keelson pieces, knees, tree¬ 
nails, staves, mast pieces & c . 

For Iron. 

For Cannon, Carronades & shot... 

For Canvass. 

For Cordage. 

For steam engines & boilers. 


$791, 583 
728,956 
27,139. 95 

473, 370. 50 
157, 355 
331, 290 
140,298 

50, ooa 

59,440 


These engagements are exclusively for purchases made from time 
to time by the navy agents at the different building yards, the amount 
of which purchases cannot be ascertained at this office, payments 
of money not coming under its cognizance. The engagements for 
labor are as follows: 

There are now engaged at the different building yards: 


458 Ship carpenters, 

137 Ship joiners 
50 Caulkers, 

181 Black-smiths, 

23 Mast makers, 

32 Block makers, 

30 Painters, 

22 Boat builders, 

25 Coopers, 

38 Riggers, 

14 Gun carriage makers, 


15 Sail makers, 

11 Yeomen in gunners department, 
26 Plumbers, 

1 Model maker, 

1 Mill-wright, 

4 Steam engine men, 

33 Sawyers & 

499 Laborers of all descriptions 


1. 606 


Whose monthly wages at this time, amount to $31,335. But as 
the ships now on the stocks progress, additional mechanics in the 
several departments, will be required. It is calculated that when 
all the requisite materials shall be collected at the different yards, 
so that men can be advantageously employed in all the various 
departments, such an addition to the number at present employed 
will become necessary, that the monthly expense will be very con¬ 
siderably increased. 














1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


59 


Query 7 th Have contracts or engagements been entered into, by 
which the government will be bound to expend within the present year, 
a portion of the sum appropriated; If so, what portion of the million 
appropriated for the current expenditures of the present year, has 
been pledged for existing contracts. 

Answer. In reply to this query, the Commissioners of the Navy 
would respectfully observe—that in all the contracts or engagements 
made under the Law for the gradual increase of the Navy, the prin¬ 
ciple of confining the expenditures to the amount appropriated has 
been invariably observed, Hence it will be found that the unex¬ 
pended balance of appropriation on the 1 st January 1820, is amply 
sufficient to discharge every engagement made up to that period; 
and that no portion of the million appropriated for the expenditure 
of the present year, was at that time pledged for existing contracts. 
It is however here due to the proprietors of certain foundaries, and 
factories of canvas, to state the conditional engagements made with 
them. 

Prior to the passage of the act of the 29 th April 1816, the ordnance 
of the Navy was very defective—frequent instances of guns bursting 
in action had occurred: inany of our men had lost their lives, and 
others had been severely wounded by such accidents; that confidence 
in the excellence of his arms, so essential to the sailor and soldier, had 
been, in no inconsiderable degree impaired. To remedy this serious 
national evil, became an object of the first importance to the preser¬ 
vation of our naval character: The law in question requiring that 
a great number of cannon should be procured, and making an annual 
appropriation, for a term of years, afforded the means of accom¬ 
plishing this important object. The proprietors of founderies, having 
before them a prospect of employment for eight years, expressed a 
readiness to place their establishments on the best possible footing, 
and to deliver such ordnance as might be required of them, on rea¬ 
sonable terms. The Government was thus placed in circumstances 
the most favorable for accomplishing this purpose; Three foun¬ 
daries were accordingly selected, to cast the cannon, carronades and 
shot directed by the act referred to—a method of proof,, calculated 
to test effectually, the quality of the metal, w T as established. The 
price was fixed, so as to allow a moderate profit, and the proprietors 
were required to make, at their own expense, any alterations or 
improvements in their plans & establishments, that might conduce 
to the improvement of the ordnance: These points being secured 
by adequate penalties,—assurances were, with the approbation of 
the Government, given to the proprietors of these foundaries, that 
the cannon, carronades & shot authorised by the Act for the gradual 
increase of the Navy, should be procured of them, by annual con¬ 
tracts, provided they should continue to furnish such as would 
stand the proof prescribed, undergo the inspection directed and 
conform in all other respects to the stipulations of the contract. 
It was also considered, an object of much national importance, to 
possess the means in time of war or peace, of procuring supplies of 
canvas of our own manufacture, so that in this essential article of 
naval equipment we might be at all times independent. Prior to the 
law of 29 th April 1816, our service was wholly dependent on foreign 
importations for the canvas necessary in the equipment of our ships 


60 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[16th Congress, 


of war—that Law provided the means of remedying the evil; and 
they have, with considerable success been applied. Assurances 
similar to those given to the proprietors of the foundries have 
brought into operation two respectable factories, one of which, the 
elder, at this time makes for the Navy, at reduced prices, canvas 
greatly superior, in all respects to any ever known to have been 
imported into the United States from any foreign country—the other 
has recently been got up, at great expense to the proprietor, and 
promises to succeed equally well. The competition excited between 
the two, will not, it is hoped and expected, fail to produce the hap¬ 
piest effects upon both; and the commissioners feel a persuasion 
that perseverance in a system of reasonable encouragement, will, 
in a short time, effectually secure our independence, in this essential 
material of naval equipment. 

The proprietors of the cannon foundries and cannon factories, 
have thus far faithfully redeemed their engagements to the govern¬ 
ment. Under the assurances given to them, they have, at great 
expense, placed their establishments in the most improved state, cal¬ 
culating, with confidence, upon employment and protection from the 
government—how far such assurances may be considered as binding 
the government to expend, within the present year, a portion of the 
sum appropriated, you, sir, will decide; but the commissioners beg 
leave to observe, that the effect of withholding employment from these 
valuable factories, would'be, there is too much reason to believe, to 
involve them all in absolute ruin—a consequence, to be deprecated 
as a national, as well as individual evil. 

Query 8 th What proportion of the standing appropriation under 
the above act be suspended for a limited time, consistently with the 
faith of the government, in reference to existing contracts, and 
without material injury to ships now building and materials on hand ? 

Answer. Referring to the proceeding reply to the 7 th query, as 
answering, in part, the first branch of this, the commissioners will 
further observe, that the faith of the government is in no greater 
degree pledged, than is therein stated—That if the assurances given 
to the proprietors of the factories referred to, be considered as not 
pledging the faith of the government for any expenditure of the 
appropriation, beyond the amount of the contracts actually existing 
on the 1 st January 1820, the question of suspension would be unfet¬ 
tered with any consideration, other than the expediency of such a 
measure. 

As respects the the effect which a suspension of part of the appro¬ 
priation for a limited time, would have upon ships now building, 
and materials on hand, the commissions, with great deference offer 
the following considerations. As before stated, we have now five 
ships of the line and one frigate on the stocks, for the labor in the 
building of which, we are now expending $31,335 p r month, which 
sum will necessarily, in a short time be considerably increased 
exclusively of additional materials, which as the ship progresses, it 
will be necessary to procure, in order to keep the mechanics advan¬ 
tageously employed. To suspend building these ships, at this time 
might be seriously injurious to them, to preserve them at all, houses 
over them, which could not be built, but at very great expense, 
would be indispensable—neither materials nor labor have for a long 


1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


61 


time past, been so low as they are at this time; hence it would appear, 
in this view, a peculiarly favorable period for building: Doubts are 
entertained, whether it would be in the power of the government, at 
any future period, to command, as it now can, the best professional 
talents, and the most able mechanics, almost on its own terms; and 
were we now to discharge the mechanics and laborers employed in 
the different navy yards, it would require much time, and be attended 
with difficulty and expense, to collect again, and reorganize such 
valuable corps: But independently of these considerations, there are 
others, which probably may not be deemed unworthy of attention. 

Certain great national objects are contemplated by the act of 29 th 
April 1816, and the means deemed sufficient to complete them 
provided—To render the means adequate to the objects, great 
oeconomy is essential, and this ceconomy assuredly suggests the expe¬ 
diency of progressing, particularly when so great a portion of the 
means has already been applied—and the possion of a fund applicable 
to advantageous purchases, as opportunities offer, is a consideration 
of no little weight, in the oeconomical application of means. 

As to the materials now on hand, as before stated, those of wood, 
if the building of the ships were suspended, would subject the govern¬ 
ment to great expense, in the erection of sheds for their better 
preservation: and even then, as experience has proved, they could 
not be effectually preserved—The board fear that it would be found 
impracticable to replace the live oak frames, should they receive 
injury, for in addition to the small quantity of this valuable timber 
which will be left after the completion of the frames now contracted 
for, the commissioners of the Navy have already had the honor of 
communicating to you, that they have received information from an 
unquestionable source, that the British government have now an 
agent in this Country, for the purpose of obtaining Live oak frames 
for twenty ships, and should they succeed in obtaining them, the 
quantity of that timber in our country will be so exhausted, that but 
little of consequence will be left. Upon the whole, Sir, the Com¬ 
missioners of the Navy, viewing this subject in all its bearings, would 
beg leave, respectfully to decline recommending a suspension, even 
for a limited time, of any portion of the appropriation for the gradual 
increase of the Navy; They feel a clear conviction, that if no part 
of the appropriation be suspended, the sum provided, will be sufficient 
to accomplish all the purposes of the law: but they are equally clear, 
that the sum provided will not be adequate to those objects, unless 
managed with great ceconomy, and that suspending any material 
portion of the appropriation, would defeat the oeconomical manage¬ 
ment of it, and thus render*the means inadequate to the end. 

Query 9 th Whether the contingent appropriation for freight, 
transportation & recruiting expenses, cannot consistently with the 
interest of the Navy, be less than $300,000? 

Answer. —The estimate for the contingent expenses of the navy, 
which embraces a great variety of contingent expenditures, other 
than those stated in the query, was predicated upon the force intended 
to be kept in service. 

Considering the nature of the appropriation, which is to meet 
necessary, yet undefinable expenses—fluctuating as the casualties 
happening in every naval service—expenses which no human foresight 


62 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[16th Congress, 


can estimate with any degree of precision—and adverting to past 
experience as the safest guide, The Commissioners would observe, 
that altho’ the whole sum of $300,000 may possibly not be required, 
yet it might be injurious to the service to reduce it. 

Query 10. Cannot the expenses for freight, transportation and 
recruiting be provided for by specific appropriation ? 

Answer. Could these items be estimated with any degree of 
precision, then they might be provided for, by specific appropriation; 
but it is apprehended that a satisfactory estimate of the expense of 
these items, could not be formed. To form such an estimate, would 
require a knowledge, at the commencement of the year, of the whole 
quantity and measurement of the articles to be transported to and 
from the several depots, and to and from the several ships and 
vessels in service—the prices that would be asked for freight, the 
number of men to be discharged, or that might die, & the number to 
be entered &c during the year. 

Query 11. What expenses have been incurred, in procuring steam 
engines, and the imperishable materials necessary for building & 
equipping three steam batteries. 

Answer. The following exhibits a view of the engagements made 
with regard to steam batteries &c Viz— 


2 Complete engines. 

Making boilers 164000 lb of Copper @ 10 Cts 

82,000 lb. Copper castings &c.@ 33 “ 

82,000 _d°.d°. 31 “ 

82,000 ... .d°.d°. 31 “ 

3 Live oak frames 36,000 feet_@ 1.45. 

90,000 cubic feet of yellow pine timber. 


$43, 000 
16, 400 
27, 060 
25, 420 
25, 420 
52, 200 
34, 025 


$223, 525 

All which is most respectfully submitted. I have the honor to 
be, with great respect 

Sir, Your most obe t Servant 

Jn\ Rodgers. 

Hon ble Smith Thompson 

Secy, of the Navy. 












1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


63 


B. 


Exhibit, shewing the Class, Names, Force and Station of all the public ships and vessels 
of the United States, in active employment, and the number of Officers and Men attached 
to each. 


• 

Class. 

Names. 

Force. 

Number of 
Officers & 
Man. 

Station. 

Ship. 


guns 



Franklin. 

.74 

732 1 


Guerriere.... 

. 44 

434 


it 

Peacock. 

.20 

143 } 

In the Mediterranean. 

Brig. 

Spark. 

. 14 

90 1,3991 


Ship. 

t i 

Columbus.... 

.74 

732 

Preparing for the Mediterranean to relieve the Franklin. 

Macedonian. 

.38 

302 

Cruising in the Pacific Ocean. 


Congress. 

.3(3 

302 

Cruising in the China Seas. 


Constellation 

.30 

362 

Cruising on the Eastern Coast of South America. 


John Adams. 

.24 

107 

Cruising between Aflrica & S° America & the West 
Indies. 

* * 

Cyane. 

.2S 

175 

Cruising on the coast of Africa. 


Erie. 

.20 

143 

On her return to the U. States. 

Brig. 

Hornet. 

. 18 

143 

Readv for sea at N. York, destined on special service. 

Enterprize... 

. 14 

90 

Cruising in the Gulf of Mexico. 

Schooner. 

Nonsuch. 

. 0 

01 

Cruising on Eastern Coast of S° America. 


Lynx. 

. 6 

57 

Cruising in the Gulf of Mexico. 


H ornet. 

. 4 

57 

Ditto Ditto 

Ketch.... 

Surprise. 

. 6 

24 

Ditto Ditto 

Schooner. 

Bull Dog.... 

. 2 

15 

Ditto Ditto 


Lady of the Lake.. 1 

12 

Cruising on Lake Ontario. 

• » 

Porcupine... 

. 1 

10 

D°.on Lake Erie. 

11 

Despatch.... 


23 

Employed in the surveying service. 


Asp. 


23 

Receiving vessel at Baltimore. 


Gun Boat N° 

158.. 1 

29 

Cruising Coast Georgia & N. Carolina. 


Gun Boat “ 

108.. 1 

29 

Ditto Ditto 


Gun Boat “ 

72... 1 

29 

Employed at Norfolk. 


»t it 

70... 1 

29 

Ditto 



1 

15 

2955 

4354 

Tender at Washington N. yard. 


Number of officers and men employed in the Mediterranean Squadron. 1399 

Number of officers and men attached to the vessels of the U. States otherwise employed. 2955 


Total. 4354 

• _ 


c. 

Statement of the Naval force of the Barbary powers, copied from 
a report made by Commodore Isaac Chauncey—dated the 23 d 
Octob r 1817. 


A statement of the Naval force belonging to the Bashaw of Tripoli— 

1 Corvette ship. 24 Guns 

1 Brig.-. 16 “ 

3 small vessels, mounting from 2 to. 6 

About twenty gun-boats, with one gun each—all small. 















































[16th Congress, 


64 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


A statement of the Naval Force belonging to the Bey of Tunis— 

3 Frigates mounting. 

1 ditto building, to mount. 

3 Zebecks, mounting. 

1 Corvette.... 

1 Ditto. 

1 Ditto. 

1 Zebeck... 

1 Ditto.*•. 

1 Brig. 

10 small vessels, mounting from 4 to 16 guns each and about 
80 Gun-boats, mounting from 1 to 2 guns each 
3 Bomb vessels, with a single mortar in each. 


48 Guns each. 
48 “ 

26 “ each. 

24 “ 

20 “ 

18 “ 

14 “ 

12 “ 

18 “ 


A statement of the Naval Force, belonging to the Regency of Algiers— 

1 Frigate, mounting. 36 Guns 

3 Corvettes__ “.from 20 to 26 

3 Brigs.“. “ 16 to 20 “ 

3 Schooners-“. “ 14 to 18 “ 

About 40 Gunboats. “ 1 to 2 


Made April 10 1820 
Read and ordered to lie upon the Table. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the memo¬ 
rial of Samuel C. Reid, in behalf of himself and the other officers 
and crew of the private armed Brig, General Armstrong 

report: 

That it appears by the memorial, that the Brig General Armstrong 
sailed on a cruise from the port of New York in Sep- 

s».c. Reid. tember 1814, and on the 26 th of the same month, put 

into the Port of Fayal. That on the evening of the 
same day a British Squadron, consisting of one ship of 74 guns, one 
of 44 guns, and one of 16 guns, anchored in the same port, and in the 
course of the night, sent four armed boats, to attack the Armstrong, 
but such a destructive fire, was opened upon these boats, from the 
Armstrong, as to compel them to return to the ships: A second attack 
was then made, by 12 or 14 boats, which (after a severe conflict of about 
40 minutes, in which several hundred of the enemy were supposed to 
have been slain) were also obliged to return to the ships: The enemy 
finding himself thus discomfited in two attempts during the night, 
at day light, one of the ships was sent alongside of the Armstrong 
and commenced a cannonade upon her, when Cap 1 Reid finding fur¬ 
ther insistence useless, and having regard to the safety of his Crew, 
who had so gallantly supported him, he concluded to, and did scuttle, 
and abandon his vessel, which was subsequently burnt by the enemy. 

The Memorialists do not ask for any specific relief, but their object 
is to obtain such pecuniary reward as Congress may think proper to 
bestow upon them. 

The Committee think it due to Cap 1 Reid and his associates to 
express their opinion, that in but few, if any of the naval battles 




















1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


65 


recorded in the history of the late war, has the flag of our Country 
been more honorably defended than in the one now under considera-. 
tion, but as these acts of heroism were performed on board a private 
vessel, the case does not come within the provisions of any existing 
law, and the Committee deem it inexpedient further to extend these 
provisions at this time. 


Made April 10 th 1820 
Read, and ordered to lie upon the Table. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the peti- 
jn° Kenrick. tion of John Kenrick have had the same under con¬ 
sideration and submit the following, 

report: 

The petitioner states that he has invented a sub-marine plough 
and harrow, whereby, with the aid of a steam boat, he thinks that 
channel, of convenient width and depth, may be opened for the 
safe passage of ships into the barred rivers and harbours of the 
United States; and prays Coneress to examine the principles of his 
invention, and, if approved, to enable him by means of pecuniary 
aid, to test its efficacy. 

Without deciding upon the probable utility of this invention, the 
Committee are of opinion, that it would be inexpedient, at this time, 
to authorise an appropriation for the purposes proposed by the 

E etitioner; and therefore recommend that he have leave to withdraw 
is petition. 


Made May 1 st 1820 
Read, and ordered to lie upon the Table. 

The Committee on naval affairs have, according to order, had under 
Relating to the consideration a resolution directing an enquiry “into 
Board of.Navy Com- the expediency of so modifying the act establishing 
a Board of Commissioners of the Navy, as to make 
the Secretary of the Navy for the time being, the presiding officer of 
that Board; and also of so limiting the tenor of the Commissions of 
the members thereof, as to secure the accumulating experience and 
talents of our naval commanders in that department, by a periodical 
rotation in office/’ and submit the following 

report: 

The act entitled, “An Act to alter and amend the several acts for 
establishing a navy department, by adding thereto a board of Com¬ 
missioners ,” provides that the board so constituted shall be attached 
to the office of the secretary of the Navy , under his superintendance 
shall discharge all the duties therein specified, and that the record 
of their proceedings, shall, at all times, be subject to his inspection. 

39889—10-5 



66 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[16th Congress, 


As it would be often inconvenient, and sometimes impracticable 
for the secretary of the Navy to meet the board of Navy Commis¬ 
sioners as their presiding officer, without neglecting other, and more 
important duties, and as the secretary is, by the aforesaid act, 
already vested with a supervising & controlling power of the acts 
and proceedings of the Board of Commissioners, the Committee do 
not perceive the necessity of such a modification of the said Act,* as is 
contemplated by the first enquiry directed b} 7- the resolution, or that 
the public service would be benefitted thereby. The Committee are 
the more disposed to this opinion from the consideration that the 
limits of Jurisdiction between the Secretary and the Board, seem to 
be perfectly understood by each, and that no conflicting claims exist 
between them on this subject. 

The Committee are not advised whether the resolution contem¬ 
plates the Secretan^ to be a constituent part of the Board, and at the 
same time possessed of the Controul and superintendence of its 
proceedings, or merely the presiding officer, with a casting vote. 
In the latter case, the benefit to be derived from the superintendence 
of one officer over others, under distinct responsibilities, as well as 
the circumspection naturally resulting from such responsibility would 
be entirely lost. In the former case, the Commissioners would be 
little more than advisory, and in that proportion, bereft of respon¬ 
sibility. 

In relation to the second enquiry directed by the resolution, viz: 
“of so limiting the tenor of the Commissions of the members of the 
Board of Commissioners, as to secure the accumulating experience 
and talents of our naval Commanders, in that department, by a 
periodical rotation in office/' the Committee beg leave to remark, 
that the duties of the Commissioners of the Navy Board, are not 
merely such as appertain to a mere naval officer, but extend to other 
and important subjects, with which such officers cannot be supposed 
to be familiarly acquainted, they relate, not only to the contracting 
for, and procurement of, all articles necessary for the armament, 
equipment and provisioning of the public ships, but also to the con¬ 
structing and repairing of those ships; to effectuate which objects in 
the cheapest and best manner, requires a full knowledge, not only of 
the places at which materials and every tiling needful for these 

n )Oses can most advantageously be procured, but also with persons, 
ifferent sections of the country, with whom they can with the 
greatest reliance make their contracts: The investigation of the 
committee has led them to the conclusion, that too much time has 
not yet been allowed the present commissioners to obtain that 
intelligence and experience, which is desirable to the most advan¬ 
tageous discharge of these duties, and to perfect such a system in their 
department, as will unfold to their successors, all the advantages of 
their labors, which, in the estimation of the Committee, have been 
such, as are honorable to themselves, and highly beneficial to the 
public interest. 

The Committee would only add, that a periodical rotation in 
office, from a given number, would preclude choice, such a rotation 
“instead of securing the accumulating experience & talents of our 
naval commanders,” might possibly endanger the board. with 
qualifications opposite from those intended. 


1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


67 


Under these impressions, the Committee are of the opinion, that 
although occasional changes in the board of Commissioners, may, and 
probably would be productive of public benefit, yet that these changes 
may with safety be left to the discretion of the Executive, therefore 
that it is inexpedient, at this time, to make any modification of the 
Act under which the said board of Commissioners is established. 


Made May 8 th 1820 
Read, and ordered to lie upon the Table. 

The Committee on Naval affairs, to whom was referred the Memo¬ 
rial of Thomas C. Robinson, have had the same under consideration, 
and submit the following 

report: 

The memorialist states that he entered into the naval service of 
the United States, as a seaman, in July 1803; that 
son. homas C ’ Robln * he was first attached to the schooner Vixen, and pro¬ 
ceeded in her to the mediterranean, and there joined 
the expedition against Tripoli, under the Command of the late Com¬ 
modore Preble; That some time in 1804, he was transferred to Gun 
boat N° 6. commanded by Lieutenant Trippe, and was attached to 
her, when ten of the Crew, together with the memorialist, boarded 
and captured her, after a desperate and bloody conflict, a Gun boat 
of the Enemy, of superior force, and with a crew of 57 men, 25 of 
whom were lulled, and the others wounded and taken prisoners. The 
memorialist also states, that after the seige of Tripoli, he was appointed 
a gunner, and served in that capacity until peace was concluded with 
the Barbary powers, when he returned to the United States & was 
discharged. That from the period of his discharge from the naval 
service, until the commencement of the late war with England, he 
was employed as master of different merchant vessels, belonging to 
citizens of the United States, in one of which he was captured & 
carried to England, from whence, after having been kept a prisoner 
for some time, he escaped, and reached France, and there entered on 
board the American privateer Brigantine Neufchatel, and was on 
board that Vessel at the time of her severe engagement with the 
boats of the British frigate Endymion, off Xantuckett, in which action 
he received a slight wound. The memorialist further states, that his 
sight, which had become much impaired, previous to leaving the 
Neufchatel continued to grow worse, and that for the last five years 
he has been totally blind; and in addition to this calamity, he is 
afflicted with the palsy, which has deprived him entirely of the use of 
his limbs; that his family, consisting of a wife and child, who were 
dependent on his personal exertions for support, are now destitute 
of the common necessaries of life: And prays Congress to grant him 
some relief. 

It is not said, or even suggested, by the memorialist, that the 
infirmaties which have befallen him, have been caused by, or are the 
probable consequences of, any injury which he sustained while in 



68 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[16th Congress, 


the public or private armed vessels of the United States: The Com¬ 
mittee are therefore of opinion that the case does not come within 
the principles of any existing law; nor have they been able to discover 
any precedent that would justify a report, favorable to the memo¬ 
rialist, They therefore recommend that he have leave to withdraw 
his petition & papers. 


Made May 8 th 1820 
Head, and ordered to lie upon the Table. 

The Committee on Naval affairs, to which is referred the memorial 
of Thomas Shields, have had the same under consideration, and, 

report: 

The memorialist states that at the period of the invasion of Loui¬ 
siana by a British force in the winter of 1814, he, in 
Th: shields. his capacity of purser in the Navy on the New Orleans 
station, furnished five gun vessels of the United States, 
then stationed in Lake Borgne, with stores and necessaries for the 
supply of their respective crews, to the amount of 2492 T %% Dollars, 
and that the said Gun-boats, then under the command of Lieutenant 
Thomas Ap Catesby Jones, were attacked, and after a gallant resist¬ 
ance, captured by a superior British force, on the 14 th December, by 
reason of which capture, the memorialist lost the whole of said stores, 
so furnished for the use of said Crews, and prays remuneration from 
Congress. 

The stores lost by the memorialist, were such as, by the regulations 
of the Naval service, pursers are authorised to sell to the crews of the 
vessels, at a limittecl, but such liberal allowance, as to afford a large 
profit to the purser, & to make that office, one of the most lucrative 
ones in the naval service. 

The Committee have not been able to find that the public have, 
heretofore, made good any losses of this kind, though many have 
occurred. 

The hazard in such cases is an ordinary one which is perfectly 
understood by the pursers, and willingly met, for the chance of 
profit on the sales of the articles, which profit, the Committee think 
ought to cover the risk, and bar all claim on the United States, for 
such losses: They therefore recommend to the House, the following 
resolution: 

Resolved , that the prayer of the memorialist ought not to be granted. 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


69 


Made May 8 th 1820. 

Read, and ordered to lie upon the Table. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the peti¬ 
tions of sundry persons residing in Portland, in the 
laid^^&savannah’ State of Maine, and of sundry persons, residing in 
o Savannah, in Georgia, on the subject of Marine 

Hospitals, 


report: 

That as a general bill has been reported to the House, for the 
better organization of Marine & Naval hospitals, which will, probably, 
be acted upon at the next, if not in the course of the present session 
of Congress, it is, in the opinion of the Committee, inexpedient to 
adopt any measures in relation to the said petitions, at this time. 



SIXTEENTH CONGRESS, 2" (1 SESSION. 


A Committee on Naval Affairs was appointed, consisting of 


M r 

M r 

M r 

M r 

M r 

M r 

M r 


Barbour, 

Fuller, 

Warfield, 

Hall N. C. 

Dennison, 

Case & 

Crawford. 


Chairman. 


Members. 

,r 


Made January 17, 1821. (Petition rejected.) 

The Committee on Naval affairs to whom was referred the petition 
John Stevens. and memorial of John Stevens, 

report: 

The petitioner suggests a plan for the complete defence and security 
of the Sea-coast of the United States, by having in readiness at each 
port, all the imperishable materials of the requisite number of steam 
engines, with magazines furnished with elongation shells; stating 
that at the commencement of a war, the requisite number of vessels 
can always be procured promptly, and fitted for service, upon the 
plan proposed by him, at less expense, and with more efficiency than 
the steam batteries authorised by the act of 1816;—for a more 
detailed statement of the petitioners plan, with the advantages which 
he supposes belonged to it, your Committee refer to his petition; He 
suggests the propriety of suspending, for the present, any further 
expenditure for providing steam-engines and materials for erecting 
the three steam batteries, and asks that an appropriation may be made 
of from forty to fifty thousand dollars for procuring the steam engine, 
and equipping completely a steam vessel, of, from 150, to 300 tons 
burden, upon his plan, by way of experiment: The Committee, with 
a view to procure information, as to the practicability, and efficiency 
of this scheme, addressed a letter to the navy department, in reply 
to which, they received an answer from the Navy Commissioners, 
which accompanies this report; the remarks, and reasoning of the 
Navy Commissioners, have induced the Committee to think, that his 
scheme is a character, not to justify the expense of the proposed 
experiment;—They therefore recommend the following resolution: 

Resolved , that John Stevens have leave to withdraw his petition 
and memorial. 


71 





72 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[16th Congress, 


(Copy.) 

Navy Commissioners Office, 

4 th January 1821 

Sir, 

The Board of Navy Commissioners, in reference to the communi¬ 
cation of John Stevens to the Speaker of the House 
John stevens. of Representatives, which you did them the honor 
to submit to them, have the honor to observe,— 

First, In justification of themselves, their views and proceedings, 
which he would appear to impeach, that they have confined themselves 
strictly to the letter of the law, in the procurement of the “ Steam 
Engines , and all the imperishable materials necessary for building 
and equipping three Steam batterirs on the most improved plan ”—and 
in doing so, availed themselves of all the abilities in the United 
States, by inviting, by publication in the news-papers of the principal 
sea-port towns, which publish the Laws of the United States, pro¬ 
posals and plans for the same. Few plans were offered, and none 
that the Commissioners could approve of; among them, was one 
from M r R. L. Stevens, a son of J. Stevens, and a man whom the 
Board believe to be of great mechanical talents. Although none of 
these plans could be entirely approved of by the Board, they afforded 
hints, which they thought might be turned to the public advantage, 
and to obtain one that night be as free from exception as possible,— 
persons known to be of the first abilities in Naval Architecture and 
science were employed to form a model, which should unite in it all 
the improvements within the knowledge of the Board; be free from 
all the defects which were found in the others, and be as complete in 
every respect as possible. It was particularly enjoined on them, to 
confine themselves to known principles, and to do nothing which 
would jeopardise the public interests, by vain projects and visionary 
schemes. A plan and model was obtained, which was believed to 
be, every way unexceptionable; and was adopted as the most 
suitable for the Steam Batteries, contemplated by the Law, and the 
Board proceeded to make preparation for their construction accord¬ 
ingly. 

This model is entirely different from the first steam Battery which 
was built at the suggestion, and under the superin tendance of M r 
Robert Fulton, as an experiment:—It was prepared by the Naval 
Constructor, who built the steam ship, now plying between New 
York and New Orleans, and is believed to possess all her properties 
of fleetness and ability to keep the sea—hence it will be perceived that 
whatever remarks J. Stevens may have made on the “presumption’’ 
that the Steam Engines now preparing, “are to be placed on board 
of Steam Batteries of similar construction with one in the harbor of 
New York,” will not apply to the Steam Vessel now preparing by 
the Commissioners. 

Secondly. The Board have reason to think, that they have had it 
in their power to avail themselves of every improvement that J. 
Stevens would introduce into the naval service, and that, as far as 
they might appear to them advantageous, they have introduced 
them. 

Thirdly. The Board think it would be impracticable to place 
engines on board vessels not prepared for them, at so short a period 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


73 


as he mentions; nor could they, when scattered along the coast, be 
readily assembled for the protection of any place threatened,—and if 
collected, they have doubts, whether, their usefulness in attack, would 
be as great as he expects. 

Fourthly. He offering no plan for the protection of the machinery 
in the vessels in which he proposes placing his Steam Engines, the 
Board can make no observations as to the practicability of securing 
them effectually against the effects of shot:—they have reason, how¬ 
ever to doubt whether in vessels of so slender a construction as those 
he mentions, this is possible. 

Fifthly. With regard to their speed, it must greatly depend on their 
form, and the power of the Engines applied to them, which the Board 
have no doubt, might be increased, far beyond that stated by John 
Stevens; and this opinion is founded on the high speed of some of 
the steam vessels, which navigate the waters or the United States; 
and if the speed of the vessels he mentions, cannot be increased 
beyond what he states (7 miles per hour) the Board confidently 
believe that one of the Steam Batteries which are contemplated to 
be built by the Board, would destroy the whole fleet which might be 
equipped according to the plan of John Stevens, as far as his com¬ 
munication makes it known. 

Sixthly. In conclusion, the Board take the liberty to state, that 
R. L. Stevens, on his visit to this place, a few weeks since, became 
first informed of his fathers schemes, of placing the whole of our 
extended sea coast in a state of complete defence, and perfect security, 
by having in readiness at each part, all the imperishable materials of 
the requisite number of Steam Engines &c &c —and expressed to the 
Board, his mortification and regret: assuring them that he had no 
concern in a project so wild, and offered the infirmities of age, as an 
apology for his father. Under these circumstances the Board con¬ 
ceive it unnecessary to proceed into a further investigation of his 
principles of maritime protection, or the propriety of his suggestion, 
to suspend all further expenditures on other objects of national 
defence, with a view to test the efficacy of the plan he recommends. 

I have the honor to be 
Very respectfully 

Your most ob. Servant 


John Rodgers. 


Hon ble Smith Thompson 

Secretary of the Navy. 


Made January 29 th 1821. (Committed.) 

The Committee on Naval Affairs to whom was referred a resolution 
of the House of Representatives of the 11 th January 1821, instructing 
them to enquire into the expediency of limiting by 
Reducing the Navy, law, the number of seamen, ordinary seamen and 
boys, to be annually employed in the service of the 
United States; and also into the expediency of reducing the number 
now in actual service, 



74 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[16tii Congress., 


REPORT: 

That by an act of Congress, approved the 3 rd of March 1801, a 
Naval peace establishment was fixed by law, providing the number 
of Ships, which should be kept in constant service in time of peace, 
and that the residue should be laid up in ordinary; authorising the 
President to Officer and man the vessels to be retained in actual 
service, as he might direct, limiting him however, to two thirds of 
the then present complement of seamen and ordinary seamen, (by 
which the Committee understand, the two thirds of the then full 
crews of the Ships retained) limiting the number of Captains, Lieu¬ 
tenants and Midshipmen, to be retained in the navy service in time 
of peace, and authorising the president to discharge all the other 
officers in the Navy service of the United States. That by another 
act of Congress, approved April 21 st 1806, the President was author¬ 
ised to keep in actual service, in time of peace, as many of the Frigates 
and other armed vessels of the United States, as in his judgment, the 
nature of the service might require, and cause the residue to be laid 
up in ordinary, in convenient ports;—and the President was author¬ 
ised to officer and man the public armed vessel, in actual service in 
time of peace, as he might direct; but the act just referred to limited 
the number of Captains, masters commandant, Lieutenants and 
midshipmen; it limited too the number of able seamen, ordinary 
seamen and boys, to nine hundred and twenty five, and authorised 
the President to appoint for the vessels in actual service, as many of¬ 
ficers of the grades therein mentioned, as might in his opinion, be neces¬ 
sary and proper; That by another act, approved, March 3 rd 1807, the 
president was authorised in addition to the then present naval peace 
establishment, to employ a number of able seamen and boys, not 
exceeding five hundred, should the exigency of the public service 
require it:—That by an-other act, approved January 31 st 1809, it 
was provided, that in addition to the Frigates then employed in 
actual service, there should be fitted out, officered and manned, four 
other frigates by name; and that the President might equip, man and 
employ in actual service, as many of the public armed vessels, then 
laid up on ordinary, and gun boats, as in his judgment, the public 
service might require, and for the purpose of carrying the provi¬ 
sions of the said act into effect, the president was authorised, in 
addition, to the number of Petty officers, able seamen, ordinary 
seamen and boys, then authorised by law, to appoint, and cause to 
be employed, three hundred midshipmen, three thousand six hundred 
able seamen, ordinary seamen and boys, to be engaged to serve for 
a period, not exceeding two years, but subject to be sooner dis¬ 
charged. 

That by another act, passed June 28 th 1809, the President was 
authorised, in the event of a favorable chance in the foreign relations 
of the country, to cause to be discharged from the actual service, 
and laid up in ordinary, such of the Frigates, and public armed 
vessels, as in his judgment a due regard to the public security and 
interest would permit. 

That by another act of Congress, passed, March 30 1812 the Presi¬ 
dent was authorised, to cause to be immediately repaired, equipped 
& put into actual service, three frigates by name, and it was provided 
that the officers and seamen of the navy might be increased, so far 


2d Session.] REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 75 

as was necessary, to officer, man and equip the vessels so as to be 
put into service. 

That by another act of Congress passed January 2 d 1813, it was 
provided, that the president should cause to be built, equipped, and 
employed, four ships, to rate not less than seventy four guns, and six, 
to rate forty-four guns each; and the number of Commissioned and 
warrant officers, petty officers, able seamen, ordinary seamen and 
boys to be employed on board each of the said ships of seventy four 
guns, was fixed by that act; the crew, so far as it consisted of seamen 
and boys, was limited to two hundred able seamen, and three hun¬ 
dred ordinary seamen and boys. That by another act, passed March 
3 d 1813, the President was authorised to have built, manned, 
equipped and commissioned for service, six sloops of war, and also, 
to have built, or procured, as many sloops, to be employed on the 
Lakes as the public service might require; and by the 2 nd Section of 
the last mentioned act, the President was authorised to appoint such 
officers, and to employ such number of seamen, as might be necessary, 
for such vessels as were authorized by law, to be put in commission, 
any law to the contrary, notwithstanding. 

The Committee have thought it proper, to give to the House a 
brief view of the progress of legislation in relation to this subject, 
and they believe the foregoing sketch, substantially to present it. 
Upon a reference to the various acts of Congress before referred to, 
it will be found, that, both in the years 1801 and 1806, there was a 
naval peace establishment fixed by law, limiting, not only the number 
of seamen and boys, but of officers also ; it will be found too, as your 
Committee believe, by reference to dates, compared with the history 
of the country, and indeed to the language of some of the acts of 
Congress themselves, that the subsequent provisions, in relation to 
the naval establishment of the United States, had reference, directly, 
to what either then was, or probably soon would he, the relation of 
the country, to foreign governments; in short, that they looked 
directly to a state, either of actual or probable war:-—Your com¬ 
mittee understand the resolution referred to them, to relate to the 
number of seamen and boys necessary to be employed in time of peace, 
and whether that shall be fixed by law. In the present state of 
things, the only limitation upon the number of seamen is to be found 
in the appropriation bill, which in effect, annually limits the number 
to be employed, by the amount of the appropriation annually made 
for that object; your committee believe, that the proper office of 
the appropriation bill, is, as far as practicable, to provide means for 
objects authorised by existing laws; there are indeed cases, which 
on account of the contingent or uncertain character of the expendi¬ 
ture, constitute exceptions to this rule; but in general, the rule is 
considered as a sound one. Your committee would further remark, 
that in investigating this subject, they have extended their enquiries 
beyond the mere scope of the resolution, into the propriety of fixing 
a naval Peace establishment, embracing, as well the number of 
officers, as ships to be kept in the service of the United States in 
time of peace, and they beg leave shortly to submit some of their 
reasons for thinking that there should be a peace establishment in 
the navy, as well as the army. Altho’ by the Constitution of the 
United States the President is commander in chief of the army and 
navy, yet it belongs to Congress, to raise and support the one, and to 


76 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[16th Congress, 


provide and maintain the other;—the power to provide and maintain, 
implies, that of determining the quantum; a question, the decision of 
which, ought not to be left, in the opinion of your Committee, to the 
executive department; and yet in practice, it is in effect left to 
Executive decision; for, as has been before remarked, there being 
no permanent law in force, limiting the number of officers, ships or 
men to be kept in service, the only limitation, is the amount of appro¬ 
priation; and your committee believe, that in practice, the amount 
of the estimates, has generally been appropriated, without any dis¬ 
cussion in Congress, as to the necessity of them;—whatever confi¬ 
dence we may have in the executive, it seems not to be right in prin¬ 
ciple, to leave to its discretion, in effect, the decision of a question 
which belongs to the legislature:—Your Committee believe that in G. 
Britain, tho’ the number of seamen, is not fixed by a permanent law, 
yet it is settled, by the annual vote of Parliament:—If there were 
probable danger of war, or difficulty in our foreign relations, it might 
not be expedient to fix the number of seamen by a permanent law, 
but in the present circumstances of the Country, it seems to your 
committee, it may be done; it will be remembered, it is a peace 
establishment which is contemplated; when war shall come, or even 
upon its probable approach, both the army and navy will doubtless 
be placed upon a footing, suited to the then altered state of the 
Country. Your Committee would further remark, that an addi¬ 
tional reason with them, for inclining to a peace establishment, is to 
fix the number of officers, who they believe, in many grades, are too 
numerous, and yet for all whom, unless their number shall be reduced 
by law, an appropriation must be made,—your committee are aware, 
that this is a difficult, and delicate subject, the officers of the navy, 
in the recent war, not only distinguished themselves, but by breaking 
the charm of invincibility belonging to the British navy, contributed 
much, both to our glory and our solid strength as a nation:—The 
Committee are also aware that many of them have devoted some of 
their best years to their profession, yet if the interest of the Country 
require a reduction, painful as the duty is, it is one, which ought to 
be performed. 

In relation to the number of ships to be retained in service, the 
reasons which would prove the propriety of fixing the number of 
seamen, would apply with full force to them; indeed it is another 
state of the same question, in substance, since, if the number of sea¬ 
men be fixed, no more vessels will be employed than they can man; 
and the fixing a certain maximum of seamen, is considered a more 
judicious course, than to fix the number of Ships, inasmuch as the 
President will then be left at liberty to use such classes of vessels, as 
in his opinion be best adapted to the nature of the service, the aggre¬ 
gate of the guns, however, being limited by the number of men 
allowed to man them. 

Y our committee have said, that they consider the officers of many 
of the grades, as too numerous, they now proceed to state the grounds 
of their opinion:—They have not for a moment entertained the idea 
of paring down the officers of the Navy, to any thing like a mere 
sufficiency to officer the ships to be actually retained in service in 
time of peace; it is obviously impossible upon this subject, to select 
any given number, to shew that it is precisely the right one; some 
reasonable rule must be adopted; your Committee have acted upon 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


77 


the principle, that whilst on the one hand, the mere number of 
officers necessary for the vessels in actual service, is not sufficient, 
with a view to the future progress and prosperity of the navy, on 
the other hand, it would be entirely out of the question to employ, 
in time of peace , as many as would officer our whole Navy, built and 
to be built, in time of War; they have therefore selected, what they 
consider a medium between these extremes:—It appears by the 
Naval Register of 1821, that the total number of guns of our Ships, 
which are built, equipped and launched (which description, excludes 
the three line of Battle ships, Ohio, North Carolina and Delaware, 
which are believed not to be equipped) amounts to seven hundred 
and ninety seven, of all classes of Vessels, gun-boats included:— 
Your committee have thought, that if we retained in service in time 
of peace, a sufficient number of officers, to this standard, the com¬ 
mittee find, that there are various ranks, in which the present number, 
considerably exceeds that which would be required by the rule just 
stated; they will descend to particulars, in a few grades, in which 
the excess is relatively most considerable; thus, upon this scale, 
there is an excess of fifteen post-captains; of twenty masters com¬ 
mandant; of seventy Lieutenants, and twenty seven surgeons; of 
more than forty sailing masters: There are, perhaps, two, or three 
grades, in which an allowance of a few more, than even this scale 
would produce, might be judicious; amongst them, probably might 
be placed the midshipmen, who may be considered as constituting 
the nursery of the future commanders of our ships; This however 
would only vary the result in an inconsiderable degree:—The Com¬ 
mittee forbear to go into further detail, upon this subject, because, 
if the House should adopt the principle, the detail could be presented 
in the Bill. 

As to the seamen, if it should be decided to fix the number by law, 
the resolution then directs the committee to enquire into the expe¬ 
diency of reducing the number now in actual service: Upon this subject 
the Committee would remark, that it will be seen by adverting to a 
letter from the navy department, under date of the 11 th December 
1820, amongst the printed documents, that the whole force of the 
vessels of War, in the actual service of the United States, amounts to 
about three hundred and thirty five guns, distributed as is mentioned 
in the same letter:—Your Committee incline to the opinion, that the 
following diminution of that force may be made, without injury to 
the public service, viz 1 —instead of two corvettes and a sloop on the 
coast of Africa, whose object is the suppression of piracy and the 
slave trade, three of the schooners authorised by an act of the last 
session, would be sufficient, making a deduction of Thirty four guns:— 
Instead of a Thirty six gun frigate, in the Indian seas, the Corvette 
Cyane of 28 would be sufficient, making a deduction of 8:—if to these 
deductions be added, the force of the Macedonia, and Ontario, of 
which the one is returning, after being replaced by the Constellation, 
and the other is proceeding to take place of the Peacock, amounting 
together to 54 guns, the whole force which would remain, after these 
deductions from that now in service, would be 239 guns: but suppose 
an additional number of 36 guns to be included for any contingent 
service, such for example, as the replacing of a vessel returning from 
a cruise, then the whole force, which, according to the views before 
presented would be necessary, would be 275 guns; to man this force, 


78 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[16th Congress, 


upon a war establishment, if the Committee have not erred in calcu¬ 
lation, would require 856 able seamen, 802 ordinary seamen & 195 
boys; to this add, according to a document of the last session for the 
ships in ordinary, navy yards and navy stations 287 able seamen, 314 
ordinary seamen and 67 boys, and the aggregate is, of able seamen 
1143, of ordinary seamen 1116, and of boys 262;—total of all seamen, 
ordinary seamen and boys 2521; the estimate from the navy depart¬ 
ment for the year 1821, embraces 1332, able seamen, 1307 ordinary 
seamen, and 293 boys, making an aggregate of 2932; from which it 
would seem, that if the force suggested by the Committee be retained 
in service, there might be a reduction of about 411, viz* 189, able 
seamen, 191 ordinary seamen and 31 boys. 

Upon the whole view of the subject, the Committee beg leave to 
recommend to the House, the following resolution. 

Resolved , that the Naval peace establishment ought to be fixed by 
law. 


Made February 6 th 1821. (To he on the Table) 

The Committee on naval affairs to whom was referred the petition 
Edward Barry. of Edward Barry, 

REPORT: 

That the Committee of the Senate, at the last session of Congress, 
made a report on this case, which is herewith communicated, and 
in which this committee concur,—and have therefore agreed to the 
following resolution:—that the petitioner have leave to withdraw his 
petition and documents. 


January 12, 1820 

M r Roberts from the Committee of Claims, to whom was referred 
the petition of Edward Barry and George Hodge 
Barry & Hodge. submit the following 

REPORT: 

The parties produce satisfactory proof, that by the burning of the 
navy yard in this City, in obedience to an order of the Secretary of the 
Navy on the 24 th of August 1814, they being quartered in the said 
yard, their household furniture, and professional instruments were 
unavoidably consumed with the public property. The Commandant, 
and second officer of the yard, have both deposed, that from the time 
said order was received, it was utterly impossible for the petitioners 
to save any part of the property, for which payment is craved; That 
the loss sustained by the petitioners, was in consequence of an order 
received from a high source of authority, the Committee admit to be 
most clearly proved, and if they had been private citizens, they 
would, without hesitation, recommend the allowance of the claim; 



2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


79 


but they were officers, had long been, and continued to be so; their 
duties required their residence in the yard, and in accepting of those 
duties, they may fairly be deemed to have taken the risk of casualties, 
as well of war as peace: The alleged order, the committee conceive 
to have been strictly a casualty of war, as what was not consumed by 
order of our own government, was by the enemy, immediately there¬ 
after: The Committee therefore submit the following resolution 
Resolved , that the petitioners have leave to withdraw their petition. 


Made February 20 th 1821 
(Pet n rejected) 

The Committee on Naval affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of James Warren, praying that a sum, equal to the amount of his 
share of Prize-money, due to him as Lieutenant of 
James warren. Marines on board the Frigate Alliance in the war of 
the revolution, ask leave to 

report: 

That the petitioner has produced no evidence, before the Committee 
in support of his claim; they therefore recommend the following 
resolution. 

Resolved that the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 






V 





17 th CONGRESS, 1 st SESSION. 


In the House of Representatives 

of the United States, 

December 9th, 1821. 

A Committee on Naval Affairs was appointed, consisting of 


Mr. 

Mr. 

Mr. 

Mr. 

Mr. 

Mr. 

Mr. 


McLane, Chairman 
Fuller, 

Hardin, 

Warfield, 
Cambreleng, 
Gilmer, and 
Plumer, of Pa 


Members. 


Made December 20, 1821. 

Read, agreed to. (Petition rejected.) 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the peti- 
james spearing. tion of James Spearing, 

REPORT: 

That the petitioner states, “that in the year 1812, he was a seaman 
in the service of the United States, and was captured in the Frigate 
Chesapeake, and taken to Halifax; that, after quitting the service of 
the United States, he went to the Sandwich Islands, and while there 
he lost his right arm, by the discharge of a cannon, on the anniversary 
of our National Independence, whereby he is rendered unable to 
provide himself a living/ 7 in consideration of which he prays Congress 
to pass a law authorizing him to be put on the pension list. 

The Committee can perceive no reason upon which the petitioner 
can be entitled to relief ; and they therefore recommend the adoption 
of the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 


Made February 19, 1822. 

Read, and Committed to a Committee of the whole House tomorrow. 
39889—10-6 81 





82 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[17th Congress, 


No. 44. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the peti- 
ThomasKemp. tion of Thomas Kemp, submit the following 

REPORT: 

The petitioner states, that, in the spring of the year 1813, he 
contracted with the Navy Department of the United States to build 
two Sloops of War at Baltimore, to wit: the Erie and Ontario; and 
that he faithfully performed what he undertook, to the satisfaction 
of the said Department. 

That when the petitioner undertook the building of these vessels, 
the water communication between Baltimore and the country, 
whence he had to procure timber and other materials, was perfectly 
free and open from the enemy, and there was every probability that 
it would remain so; but that soon afterwards a considerable British 
force entered the Chesapeake and advanced above the mouth of 
Patapsco, and blockaded the communication by water with the upper 
and lower parts of the bay, and continued to do so nearly all the year, 
by reason of which the petitioner was obliged to pay an advance of 
at least fifty per cent, on the usual price for all the timber wanted, and 
a like advance upon the materials of copper, iron, lead, and other 
articles necessary for the construction of said vessels. 

The petitioner proceeded to finish the vessels, aware of the loss he 
would probably sustain, but calculating upon the justice of Congress 
to do him justice; and he now prays to be indemnified for the loss 
occasioned by the aforesaid rise of timber and the other articles. 

The petitioner states his loss to be six thousand two hundred and 
twenty three dollars and twelve cents, which is supported by his 
oath, and no other testimony. 

The Committee are of opinion that, if, upon principle, this case 
could be entitled to relief, the facts are not made out by the best 
proof of which they are susceptible, and of which the public interest 
requires the production. But they do not see how the petitioner can 
be entitled to relief in any event. 

When the petitioner entered into the contract, he necessarily took 
the chances of the rise or fall in the price of the articles necessary for 
its completion. If it had fallen, the advantage would have resulted 
to him, and not to the United States, and if it has risen, the loss should 
be his. It cannot alter the case that the rise was occasioned by the 
acts of the enemy, for these were not the fault of the United States, 
but a calamity common to both, and if the blockade of the Chesapeake 
was not an event naturally to be foreseen by the most ordinary 
prudence, it certainly does not create a case in which, upon the 
common principles of equity, a party can be relieved against his 
agreement. 

The Committee therefore recommend the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 


Made February 19, 1822. 

Read, and, with the Bill, committed to a Committee of the whole 
House tomorrow. 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


83 


No. 45. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
wuiiam Thompson, of William Thompson, 

REPORT: 

That the petitioner shipped as a seaman, in the year 1819, on board 
of the United States revenue Cutter Louisiana, Jairus Loomis, Esq. 
Commander. That, on the 30th July, of the same year, in conse¬ 
quence of various acts of piracy committed by some piratical vessel, 
between the harbor of Mobile and Florida Point, it became necessary 
to send a vessel in that direction for the protection of the property 
and persons of the Citizens of the United States; and the Secretary of 
the Navy having no public vessel at that time of a suitable description, 
the said Jarius Loomis, by orders from the Secretary of the Treasury, 
was directed to proceed with the Cutter Louisiana, to execute this 
service. That the vessel sailed in consequence of these orders, and, 
on the 10th of August, 1819, had an engagement with the piratical 
schooner Bravo, in which the petitioner was severely wounded in the 
back by a musket ball, and is thereby disabled. 

The facts are fully substantiated; though the case is considered by 
the Navy Department not strictly within the existing law; and the 
petitioner applies to Congress for a pension. 

The Committee are satisfied that the case is clearly within the 
spirit, if not the letter, of the law granting pensions; and if the cutter 
was not co-operating, at the time, with the naval force, she was 
performing a service which regularly belonged to that force; and they 
therefore report a bill for the petitioner’s relief. 


Made March 2d, 1822. 

Read, and ordered to lie upon the table. 

No. 53. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the several 
resolutions of the House of Representatives of the 3d of January, and 
5th and 6th of February last, beg leave to submit the following 

report, in part: 

That they have made the investigation which the importance of the 
subject demands, and have kept in view the general object of pro¬ 
tecting the persons and property of the Citizens of the 
ro- United States, and of guarding the laws of the United 
fecUonTo the persons States from violation, upon terms the least embar¬ 
ks of 0 the ty u 0 s cit in rassing to the public finances. 

w e ?ndias^as Xicoand The extent, however, to which the system of 
plunder upon the ocean is carried on in the \s est India 
seas, and Gulf of Mexico, is truly alarming, and calls imperiously for 
the prompt and efficient interposition of the general government. 



84 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[17th Congress, 


Some fresh instances of the atrocity with which the pirates infesting 
those seas carry on their depredations, accompanied too by the indis¬ 
criminate massacre of the defenceless and unoffending, is brought by 
almost every mail, so that the intercourse between the northern and 
southern sections of the union, by sea, is almost cut off. 

The Committee are induced to believe that this system of piracy is now 
spreading itself to a vast extent, attracting to it the idle, viscious, and 
desperate of nations, and, more particularly, those who have hereto¬ 
fore been engated in the slave trade, from which the vigilance of the 
American Cruisers have driven them; and that, if they are not winked 
at by the authorities in the Island of Cuba, they are in no respect 
restrained by their interference. 

The Committee are also of opinion, that, extended as the American 
coast has now become, the danger of smuggling has considerably 
increased, and that both these considerations recommend the employ¬ 
ment of an ample naval force, which, by scouring those seas, shall 
have the effect of driving the present freebooters from the Ocean, and 
of preventing others from resorting to similar practices. Depreda¬ 
tions of this discription can be effectually broken up only by keeping 
up such a force as will render the hazard of engaging in them greater 
than the emolument fo be derived from success. 

Under this view of the subject, the Committee have inquired into 
the situation of the vessels now belonging to the Navy of the United 
States, to ascertain what portion of them may be advantageously 
employed for the purpose embraced in the above resolutions. 

That of those actually employed they find that the Ship Franklin, 
of 74 guns, is in the Pacific ocean, for the protection of our commerce 
and whale trade in that quarter; and that the Constellation frigate, 
of 36 guns, is in the same Ocean, but ordered to return to the United 
States upon the arrival of the Franklin; that the Schooner Dolphin, 
of 12 guns, accompanies the Franklin as absolutely necessary upon 
so long a cruise. 

That the frigate Constitution, of 44 guns; sloop of war Ontario, of 
18 guns; and schooner Nonsuch, of 10 guns, are cruising in the Medi¬ 
terranean, to keep the Barbary powers in awe, and protect our com¬ 
merce in that sea; and, it is believed, that a less force would be inade¬ 
quate for these objects. 

That the Sloop of War Hornet, of 18 guns; the Brigs Enterprize and 
Spark, of 12 guns each; and the Schooners Porpoise, Grampus, Shark, 
and Alligator, of 12 guns each, are already cruising in the West India 
seas and Gulf of Mexico, for the protection of trade, the suppression 
of piracy, and traffic in slaves; and that two gun boats, Nos. 158 and 
168, are also cruising along the coasts of Georgia and Florida for the 
same purposes. 

That the frigate Macedonian is now equipping at Boston, and will 
soon sail on a cruise for the same object; and that it will be necessary 
to keep at least one vessel of war, either a Corvette or Schooner, on 
the coast of Africa, as the most efficient means, for the suppression of 
the slave trade. 

The Committee are of opinion that no part of the foregoing enumer¬ 
ated force could be withdrawn from the service in which it is employed 
without detriment to the public interest, and that the force now in 
the West India seas and Gulf of Mexico is inadequate for the objects 
specified in the resolutions above referred to. 


1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


85 


That the rest of the force belonging to the Navy, consisting of the 
Java, of 44 guns, and now unworthy of repairs; the Erie, of 18 guns; 
the Peacock, of 18 guns; Congress, of 36 guns; Guerrier, of 44 guns; 
John Adams, of 24 guns, United States, of 44 guns, and Cyane, of 24 
guns, are in ordinary at the different Navy Yards, at Boston, New 
York, Washington, and Norfolk. 

But the Committee do not hesitate to pronounce sloops of war to 
be better adapted to the purposes contemplated by the resolutions 
than frigates, or smaller vessels. They are superior to frigates, 
because being in relation to the service equally efficient, and costing 
no more than half the sum, the same expense will enable us to multiply 
the chances of success by increasing the number of vessels, and doubling 
the efficiency for the same expense. They are superior to smaller 
vessels, because they are decidedly of a greater force than any of the 
piratical cruisers, or even the vessels employed in the slave trade, 
many of which are now, or soon would be, more than a match for 
shooners. The number of the men on board sloops of war would 
also give these vessels the advantage, by enabling them to man their 
prizes more securely; to man and send their boats in force into 
waters too shallow for schooners, where the pirates seek shelter, and 
for many other objects necessarily incident to such a service. Nor 
do the Committee suppose that the consideration of promoting and 
preserving a proper discipline among the officers or the Navy, is 
altogether to be overlooked in deciding upon the species of force 
to be employed in a particular service. 

The Committee are of opinion, therefore, that, to afford immediate 
and effectual protection to our commerce in the West India seas, and 
the Gulf of Mexico, the most expeditious and advisable course, in the 
first instance, would be, to fit out the Corvettes Cyane and John 
Adams, and the sloops of war Peacock and Erie, which can be accom¬ 
plished within a short time, and with little expense; that the Erie 
can be fitted for sea in the course of five months, the Peacock within 
two months, the John Adams within six weeks, and the Cyane 
within five weeks, and that the Constellation frigate, should it be 
thought necessary, may be directed, on her return from the Pacific, 
to cruise in the West India seas, though it is believed it would be more 
expensive than to build additional sloops of war for that purpose. 

The four first named vessels are now undergoing repairs, and the 
amount necessary for this purpose is already embraced in the esti¬ 
mate for the present year; so that, if they should now be directed to 
be put in service, it will be necessary to increase the estimates for the 
service of the current year, not more than one hundred and twenty 
thousand dollars. And the Committee are authorized to state, that 
this appropriation will not materially vary the state of the Treasury, 
as disclosed by the Secretary's report, because, since the date of that 
report, there has been transferred to the surplus fund an amount of 
unexpended balances of appropriations for the Naval service, suffi¬ 
cient to meet the increased expenditure. But the Committee cannot 
suppose, that where the safety of the commerce and citizens of the 
United States call imperiously for the exertion of the national force, 
so small an expenditure can be a matter of any moment. If the 
protection be necessary, it must be yielded, and the only considera¬ 
tion connected with the cost should be, that the money necessary 
to make it effectual, should not be wastefully expended. 


86 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[17th Congress, 


The Committee further report, that, in their opinion, it would be 
inexpedient for the United States to employ, arm, and equip, private 
vessels for this purpose. If the force already indicated, be insuffi¬ 
cient for the purpose, the Committee would prefer recommending 
the building of additional sloops of war, rather than to purchase 
private vessels, which are always of inferior composition, and of 
unsuitable construction, and requiring repairs and an unprofitable 
expense, to alter and make them at all fit for public vessels. 

The Committee are also of opinion, that it would be inexpedient 
*‘to authorize the destruction of persons and vessels found at sea, 
or in uninhabited places, making war upon the commerce of the 
United States, without any regular commission.” And that it 
would be inconsistent with public law, or general usage, to give any 
authority to destroy pirates and piratical vessels found at sea or in 
uninhabited places.” 

The Committee are of opinion, that it would be dangerous, and 
productive of great evil, to vest in the Commanders of our public 
vessels an authority to treat as pirates, and punish without trial, 
even such persons as above described. 

It is not necessary for the accomplishment of the object in view, 
that such an authority should be given, and it is essentially due, to 
the rights of all, and the principles of “ public law, and general usage,” 
that the consequences and punishment of piracy should follow only 
a legal adjudication of the fact. 

On the whole, the Committee are of opinion, that the employment 
of a sufficient number of vessels in the West India seas, and the Gulf 
of Mexico, authorised to make captures under.the existing laws and 
regulations, if the officers are properly industrious and enterprising, 
would afford all the protection required, and the Committee therefore 
recommend the adoption of the following resolution: 

Resolved , That it is expedient, forthwith, to fit out and put in 
service the Corvettes Cyane and John Adams, and the sloops of 
war Peacock and Erie, for the protection of commerce, and the 
suppression of piracy, in the West India seas, and the Gulf of Mexico, 
and also to employ the frigate Constellation, should the President of 
the United States deem the employment of a frigate necessary for 
the purposes aforesaid. 


Made March 4, 1822. 

Read, and ordered to lie on the table. 

(No. 55.) 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the subject 
of Naval Stores and Munitions of War, appertaining 
naval stores^munf to the Naval Department, by a resolution of the 
to°the°Navai Depart- H<Juse of Representatives of the 10th of December 
ment. P ' last, 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


87 


REPORT: 

That they have instituted an inquiry into the state and condition 
of the Navy Ordnance and ordnance stores, and herewith submit a 
schedule, marked A, embracing a full statement thereof. 

The whole of the ordnance embraced in this paper is reported to 
be in good condition, excepting only such as is noted to be otherwise; 
but it is represented to the Committee that but few, if any, of these 
guns, excepting those procured under the act for the gradual increase 
of the navy, are of the most approved kind for ships of war, and 
many of them would be rejected for sea service by any experienced 
officer. 


A. 


Military stores at the United States Navy Yard at Gosport, Va. procured under the appro¬ 
priation for the “gradual increase.” 


IRON CANNON* 

10 32 pounders. 

CARRONADES. 

10 42 pounders. 

Military stores at the United States Navy Yard, Philadelphia, procured under the 
appropriation for the “ gradual increase.” 


2 32 pounders. 


IRON CANNON. 

j 1 18 pounder. 
CARRONADES. 

11 42 pounders. 

SUNDRIES. 


1 gunner’s hand-spike 
52 truck wheels 

2 rammers 

2 worms and ladles 
1 gun searcher 

3 gun scrapers 

10 sponges and rammers 


26 Carronade beds 
10^ yards sponge cloth 
28 elevating screws and caps 
3 copper measures 
48 priming wires and boring bits 
11 gun carriages 


Military stores at Washington, procured under the appropriation for the “ gradual increase.” 


6 42 pounders 


64 42 pounders. 
1 32 do 
1 24 do 


CANNON. 

| 109 32 pounders. 

CARRONADES. 

I 1 gunage 24 pounder. 

9 howitzers 32 and 12 pounders. 


ROUND SHOT. 


3388 42 pound 


| 8613 32 pound. 




88 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[17th Congress, 


GRAPE SHOT. 

9923 stands 42 pound | 17032 stands 32 pound 

Military stores at New York, procured under the appropriation for the u gradual increase .” 


10 42 pounders 
98 32 do 


CANNON. 

I 37 carronades 42 pounders 


ROUND SHOT. 

13144 32 pound | 8498 42 pound 

GRAPE. 

34385 42 pound | 51954 32 pound 

STOOLS. 

12 tons. 12 cwt. 1 qr. 5 lbs. 42 pounders I 44 carronade beds—weight 4 tons 1 cwt. 

9 5 2 1 32 do I 10 lbs. 

Military stores at the United States Navy Yard, Gosport, Va. procured under former 
appropriations, and applicable to general purposes. Fit for service. 


8 32 pounders 
6 24 do 


IRON CANNON. 

[ 14 18 pounders 


2 32 pounders 
2 gunades 9 pounders 
8 gunades 6 do 


425 42 pound 
92 32 do 
7853 24 do 
1023 18 do 


800 18 pound 
300 12 do 


172 42 pound 
75 32 do 


108 stands 42 pound 
967 32 do 

638 24 do 


296 barrels cannon powder. 

7 do priming do 
20 half barrels priming do 


CARRONADES. 

j 2 ten inch mortars 
2 eprouvettes 


ROUND SHOT. 

430 12 pound 
315 9 do 
379 6 do 


DOUBLE SHOT. 

I 378 shells 


CANISTER SHOT. 

I 281 18 pound 


GRAPE SHOT. 

666 stands 18 pound 
200 12 do 

31 9 do 

POWDER. 

9020 musket cartridges 
2276 pistol cartridges 
1469 lbs. crude sulphur. 






89 


1st Session.] REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


324 muskets 
349 bayonets 
10 pistol locks 
423 cutlasses 


SMALL ARMS. 

285 boarding pikes 
220 axes 

8310 flints assorted 
40 pistols. 


276 

622 

565 

509 

244 

184 

227 

107 

88 


32 

24 

18 

32 

24 

12 

9 

12 

6 


pounders] 

do [long guns, 

do J 
do ] 
do 
do 
do 

pound langrage shot 
pound do. 


ICarronades. 


CYLINDERS. 

1535 spare stools 
4702 lead balls 

27 tons. 12 cwt. 1 qr. 28 lbs. loose grape 
shot 

8 tons. 16 cwt. 3 qr. 5 lbs. canister shot 
54 false fires 
106 port fires 
38 rockets. 


Military stores at the United States Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N. H. Jit for service, pro¬ 
cured under former appropriations, and applicable to general purposes. 


5 32 pounders. 
5 24 do 

2 18 do 

19 do 
2 6 do 


2120 24 pounders 
2321 18 do 
128 12 do 


103 32 pounders. 
78 24 do 


88 stands 32 pounders 
453 24 do 

262 stools 18 do 


IRON CANNON. 

8 4 pounders. 

2 carronades 18 pounders. 

3 do 9 do 
5 do 6 do 


ROUND SHOT. 

81 9 pounders 
38 6 do 

29 double shot 18 pounders 

CANISTER. 

I 66 18 pounders. 

I 8708 lbs loose 

GRAPE SHOT. 

119 stools bottoms 
27 carronade beds. 


POWDER. 

151 barrels cannon powder 
85 half barrels do. 


I 12 barrels priming powder 
| 13 half barrels do 


SMALL ARMS. 

26 muskets I 40 cutlasses 

61 pistols I 40 boarding pikes 

SUNDRIES. 


168 cartridge boxes 
6 tube do. 

24 shot do 

1983 lbs. lead balls 
14524 do number of 

2 gun carriages 
20 false fires 

3 hot shot furnaces 
23 powder horns. 

20 blue lights 
49 lanterns 


4 copper measures 
5f quires cartridge paper 
129 lbs. match rope. 

57 sponge and rammer heads 
193 sponges and rammers 
13 false fire stocks. 

13 blue light fire stocks 
36 match do 
69 sheep skins 
1 gun searcher 
13 gun scrapers 








[17th Congress, 


90 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


Military stores jit for service at the United States Navy Yard, Philadelphia, procured 
under former appropriations, and applicable to “general purposes 




16 32 pounders 
5 24 do 

40 18 do 


30 42 pounders 
1 32 do 

1 24 do 


IRON CANNON. 

24 12 pounders 
7 9 do 

3 6 do 

CARRONADES. 

2 gunades 
1 eprouvettes 


ROUND SHOT. 


746 42 pounders 

674 32 

do 

792 24 

do 

1612 18 

do 


124 12 pounders 
1109 9 do 

56 6 do 


CANISTER SHOT. 

241 4 pounder I 288 shells 

11 tons. 13 cwt. 1 qr. 19 lbs, loose grape | 


213 lbs. cannon powder. 

19863 pounds of crude sulphur. 


POWDER. 

| 24 lbs. priming powder. 

MATERIALS. 

[ 175992 lbs. of refined nitre 


SMALL 

270 muskets 
114 pistols 
370 cutlasses 


arms, &c. 

269 powder horns 
37 sponges and rammers 
97 worms and ladles, assorted. 


Military stores at the United States Navy Yard, New York, jit for service, and applicable 

to “general purposes 

IRON CANNON. 


46 32 pounders. 
43 18 do 

1 12 do 

58 9 do 


10 6 pounders. 

23 4 do 

1 medium 32 pounder 
1 do 12 do 


9 32 pounders 
20 24 do 

6 18 do 

4 gunades 18 pounders 

7 do 12 do 


CARRONADES. 

2 gunades 9 pounders 

3 do 4 do 
3 swivels 

2 mortars. 


GRAPE SHOT, LOOSE. 

26360 42 pounder 
21410 32 do 

38700 24 do 

36100 18 do 


14900 12 pounder 
52486 grape shot for canister 
154 hand grenades. 









1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


91 


ROUND SHOT. 


4709 42 pounders 

300 32 

do 

2200 24 

do 

2647 18 

do 

706 9 

do 

1170 6 

do 


2170 assorted double shot 
1084 shells 


684 

32 

do 

1080 

24 

do 

125 

12 

do 

125 

9 

do 

24 

4 

do 


•quilted grape shot. 


81 stand 42 pounders 


446 

32 

do 

81 

24 

do 

383 

18 

do 

60 

12 

do 

53 

9 

do 

26 

6 

do 

50 

4 

do 


7937 stools, assorted 


canister shot. 


POWDER, 

805 barrels cannon powder I 425 quarter casks cannon powder 

45 half barrels do I 12 cylinders full of powder 

t 

MATERIALS. 

158732 lbs. sulphur | 50273 lbs refined nitre 

SMALL ARMS. 

26 muskets I 18160 flints, assorted 

32 cutlasses 


3 chests mortar apparatus 
144 iron bands 
33 . do for gun trucks 

24 filling boxes 
5427 lbs. lead ball 
2016 lbs. buck shot 
45 hands for gun carriages 
1614 cartridges 
510 cylinders 
11 grapnels 

1 barrel blue lights 

2 boxes do 

Military stores at Washington fit for 


200 boxes blue lights and false fires cases 
218 lanterns 
4 loggerheads 

30 gun mallets 

48 quires cartridge paper 
26 pins, lynch 
5950 quills 

1721 lbs. rope for matches 

31 elevating screws 
187 gun carriages trucks 

369 priming wire and gun bitts 
124 worms and ladles. 

j, and applicable for u general purposes.’; 


44 32 Pounders. 
20 18 do 

25 12 do 


IRON CANNON. 

12 9 Pounders. 
12 6 do 

2 4 do 


CARRONADES. 


3 32 Pounders 


| 8 12 Pounders 

BRASS CANNON. 


10 different calibres from 1£ to 6 pound 
2 howitzers 
2 gunades 


15 Eprouvettes 
72 repeating swivels. 








92 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[17th Congress. 


1 32 Pounder 
57 24 do 

2523 12 do 

8416 9 do 


ROUND SHOT. 

3756 6 Pounder 
259 4 do 

24 balls for Eprouvettes 


DOUBLE SHOT, 


92 42 Pounders 
1935 24 do 
915 18 do 


2863 12 Pounders 
273 9 do 
1052 6 do 


POWDER. 


258 bbls. cannon powder 


| 65£ bbls. priming. 


206 repeating muskets 
1 rifle 

1066 muskets with bayonets 
569 pistols 
1173 cutlasses 
83 boarding pikes 


154 lanterns 
9 cannon locks 
53 musket locks 


SMALL ARMS, &C. 

597 boarding axes 
6 do caps 

50 cartridge boxes and belts, pistol 
196 do do do do musket 
31 powder horns 


SUNDRIES. 

12 locks, gun 
1 ream cartridge paper 


Military stores at the U.S. Navy Yard, Charlestown, Mass, fit for service, and applicable 

to “ general purposes .” 


CANNON. 


71 32 Pounders 
19 24 do 
8 18 do 


7 12 Pounders 
7 9 do 
16 do 


CARRONADES. 


2 42 
33 32 
5 24 


1 9 

12 gunades 24 


ROUND SHOT. 


3212 42 Pounders 
11473 32 
10120 24 
2356 18 
1342 12 


3168 9 Pounders 
977 6 

100 starboard & larboard shot 
50 patent hollow 


DOUBLE SHOT. 


100 32 Pounders 
126 24 

101 18 
391 12 


177 9 Pounders 
145 6 
98 4 


CANISTER SHOT. 


142 42 Pounders 
500 32 
108 24 


456 18 Pounders 
32 tons 10 cwt. loose 











1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS 


93 


18 42 Pounders 
2 12 do 
22 9 do 

122 tons 10 cwt. 2 qr. loose 


GRAPE SHOT. 

69 13 inch shells 
399 8 do do 

# 393 5 do do 


GRAPE STOOLS. 


470 42 Pounders 
1785 32 
7175 24 


806£ barrels cannon powder 


3307 pounds sulphur 


1 Rifle 

25 boarding axes 


8 Cartouch boxes 
42 passing boxes 
1668 pounds lead balls 
97 brackets for carronades 


3227 18 Pounders 
90 12 
50 9 


POWDER. 

I 37| barrels priming powder 

MATERIALS. 

| 38154 pounds crude nitre. 

SMALL ARMS. 

j 78381 flints assorted. 

SUNDRIES. 


7831 Cylinders 
54 gun carriages 
1 furnace hot shot 
12 powder horns. 


Military stores at the United States' Navy Yard New Orleans, jit for service , and applicable 

to general purposes. 


IRON CANNON. 


2 32 Pounder 
18 24 
6 18 
10 12 
11 9 


12 6 Pounder 

2 3 

3 2 
1 1 


CARRONADES. 


1 24 Pounder 
5 18 
7 12 
3 9 


! 2 brass 4 Pounder 
2 13 inch morters 
4 brass howitzers 


ROUND SHOT. 


6711 32 Pounders 
15476 24 
4495 18 
1557 12 


2912 9 Pounders 
1376 6 
777 4 


SHELLS. 

23 13 Inch 
41 8 


100 6 Inch 
80 5 


DOUBLE SHOT. 


275 32 pounders. 
350 24 
35 18 


22 12 pounders. 
450 9 
50 6 








94 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[17th Congress, 


CANISTER SHOT. 

20 12 pounders. I 13720 pounds loose. 

23 9 


GRAPE ‘SHOT. 

147 12 pounder 
253 9 
89 6 


POWDER. 

310f Barrels cannon powder I 17 Quarter casks priming 

34 Half barrels cannon powder | 14,968 Musket & pistol cartridges 

SMALL ARMS. 


98 Battle axes 

456 pikes 

250 bayonets 

8 pistols 

7 blunderbusses 

85 musket barrels 

157 cutlasses 

57 pistol do. 

389 muskets 


GRAPE 

STOOLS. 

225 32 Pounders 

131 9 Pounders 

2 24 

125 6 

14 12 



75 32 pounder 
408 24 
190 18 


SUNDRIES. 

30 locks 
5 sky rockets 
60 priming tubes 
1 gun breeching 
18 rings with straps for do. 

23 checks for carronades 
4 gun carriages 

34 blue fires 

24 false do. 

34 port do. 

Military stores at the United States' Naval station Erie, Pa. Jit for service , and applicable 

to general purposes. 


13 loggerheads 

30 rings with straps for ditto 
21 sponges and rammers 
4 elevating screws 
15 gun spindles 
19 gun scrapers 

2 gun carriage trucks 

3 pair tongs for hot shot 

14 worms and ladles assorted 


IRON CANNON. 


3 32 pounders 

1 24 

2 18 


8 12 pounders 
15 9 
4 6 


CARRONADES. 

38 32 pounders 
17 24 
9 12 


7 Howitzers 
4 swivels 


ROUND SHOT. 

2918 32 pounders 
1033 24 
320 18 


919 12 pounders 
1760 9 
626 6 


DOUBLE SHOT. 

235 32 pounders 
229 24 


I 180 18 pounders 
I 150 12 









1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS, 


95 


901 32 pounders 
157 12 


538 stands 32 pounders 
30 do 24 
8 do 18 
20 do 9 


CANISTER SHOT. 

12 4 pounders 
I 606 loose 

GRAPE SHOT. 

12049 loose 
435 shells 
24 grenades 

71 stool and canister bottoms. 


POWDER. 

5439 pounds cannon powder. | 861 pounds priming powder. 

MATERIALS. 


245 pounds sulphur. i 

SMALL ARMS. 

1 cartridge box 
140 muskets 
476 cutlasses 


110 boarding pikes 
122 bayonets 

111 battle axes 


SUNDRIES. 


100 passing boxes 
25044 lead balls 

104 Naval and fighting bolts 
80 cartridges for swivel 
218 for cannon 

4220 blank musket 

18 gun carriages 
65 false fires 

19 port fires 

43 powder horns 


21 locks 
3 bullet moulds 
2 reams cartridge paper 
19£ quires do 
339 lbs. match rope 
66 shackles, hand and feet 
139 priming wires 
120 worms and ladles, assorted 
10 gun barrels 


Military stores at the United States Naval station at SacketVs Harbor, Ontario , fit for 

service. 


182 32 pounders 
73 24 
24 18 


IRON CANNON. 

17 12 pounders 
2 9 
7 6 


CARRONADES. 


1 68 pounders 

18 24 pounders 

11 42 

12 18 

52 32 

8 howitzers 

ROUND 

SHOT. 

5248 42 pounders 

2207 12 pounders 

8400 32 

1020 9 

16340 40 

1050 6 

6060 18 

432 4 

DOUBLE SHOT. 

432 32 pounders 

104 18 pounders 

123 24 

97 9 







96 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[17th Congress. 


CANNISTER SHOT. 


340 

42 pound 

760 

32 

1213 

24 

2015 

42 'pound 

4227 

32 

1661 

24 


34 18 pound 
48 9 


GRAPE SHOT. 

333 18 pound 
100 tons grape, loose 


31 muskets 
79 pistols 
249 cutlasses 


166 cartouch boxes 
98 passing boxes 
163 locks 
142 powder horns 
40 hand shackles 
40 feet do 
219 boarding belts 
20 carronade beds 
81 bayonets 
60 gun breechings 
180 carriage trucks 
19920 flints 


SMALL ARMS. 

804 boarding pikes 
6 do axes 


SUNDRIES. 

91 monkey tails 
12 powder measures 
149 sponges 
39 carronade screws 

1 torpedo 

93 match tubs 

2 musket crapers 
2 gun do 

63 rocket staffs 
53 pike do 
395 match staffs 
1501 lbs. buck shot 


Military stores at Whitehall , Lake Champlain, Jit for service, and applicable to “ general 

purposes .” 


IRON CANNON. 


41 24 pounders 
17 18 
33 12 


17 9 pounders 
10 6 


CARRONADES. 

6 42 pounders 
30 32 
6 24 


26 18 pounders 
8 12 

15 swivels 


ROUND SHOT. 


88 42 pounds 
2843 32 
3667 24 
1935 18 


2419 12 pounds 
300 9 
1140 6 
1851 4 


130 9 pounders 


80 42 pounders 
723 32 


DOUBLE SHOT. 

CANNISTER SHOT. 

I 15 12 pounders 


GRAPE SHOT. 

I 360 stands 18 pounders 
I 3 tons loose 


112 stands 42 pounders 
587 32 









1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


97 


23337 lbs. cannon powder 


687 Muskets and bayonets 
80 Pistols 
497 Cutlasses 


POWDER. 

! 321| lbs. priming do 

SMALL ARMS. 

I 122 boarding axes 
473 do pikes 
I 11 spears 


SUNDRIES. 


477 Musket cartridge boxes and belts 
116 passing boxes 
48 swivel cartridges 
9000 blank cartridges for muskets 
221 port fires 
124 powder horns 
4 lanterns 
124 locks 

238 sponges and rammers 
12 match tubs 
1167 quill tubes 
600 lead do 


93 priming wires 
124 worms and ladles, assorted 
1870 wads 
86 lead aprons 

1 complete set of gun slides and car¬ 
riages 

90 Yds. flannel for Cylinders 
15 loggerheads 
15 lanterns, signal 
328 pounds lead balls 
40 Monkey tails 


Military Stores at Baltimore, jit for service, and “applicable purposes 

30621 lbs. sulphur | 28051 lbs. crude saltpetre. 

Military stores at the U. S. Naval station at Charleston, S. C.Jit for service, and applicable 

to “general purposes 


2 18 pounders 
7 9 
19 6 


2918 32 pounders 
3652 24 
1574 18 


1130 32 pounders 
140 9 


IRON CANNON. 

1 carronade 12 pounder 
4 mediums 
3 gunades 

ROUND SHOT. 

I 1818 12 pounders 
I 1710 9 
| 1438 6 

DOUBLE SHOT. 

I 35 6 pounders 
I 217 langrage shot 


CANNISTER SHOT. 

217 18 pounders 
20 star shot 


317 carronade beds 
17,492 lbs. loose grape shot 


905 lbs. cannon powder 
2236 priming do. 


343 boarding pikes 
144 boarding axes 


69 passing boxes 
37 powder horns 
13 cannon locks 
13 loggerheads 

39889—10-7 


POWDER. 

| 3569 cartridges, filled 


SMALL ARMS. 

I 1 cohorn. 


SUNDRIES. 

165 shackles 
11 gun carriage trucks 
9 worms and ladles 





98 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[17th Congress, 


Savannah, Georgia. 

At Fort Wayne, in the City of Savannah. 

CANNON. 


5 long 32 pounders 


26 of different calibres 


CARRONADES. 


These guns are very rough and 
rusty. 


At Fort Augusta, near Savannah. 

CANNON. 

2 32 pounders, on carriages 

1 32 do. not on carriage 

3 These guns were loaned to the War Department during the late War. 


Pittsburgh. 


Military stores at Pittsburgh, belonging to the Navy, fit for service, and applicable to 

general purposes. 


21 421 

42 32 ICarronades, and beds for carro- 
20 24 f nades. 

20 18 J 


60 tons grape shot and stools 


At Newport, R. I. fit for service, and applicable to “ general purposes .” 

POWDER. 

2 quarter casks, musket I 2 ullage casks, Cannon 

15 whole do. Cannon I 2 do do do. 


651 stands 24 pounders 
56 32 pounders 
170 32 pounders 

10 6 pounders 

2 9 

3 24 


GRAPE SHOT. 

| 425 32 pounders 

CANNISTER SHOT. 

| 51 24 pounders 

ROUND SHOT. 

I 145 24 pounders 

DOUBLE SHOT. 

1 cask ullage buck shot 
1 box grape shot 


19 gun carriages 
12 handspikes 

12 sponges and rammers 

13 passing boxes 
411 wads 

288 cylinders 
26 Match staffs 
4 breechings for guns 


SUNDRIES. 

12 loggerheads 

8 powder horns. 

9 wooden cartridge boxes 
2 hot shot furnaces 

5 new powder casks 
10 cannon locks 
187 lbs. musket balls 
4 stands 6 pound cannister 


Return of Ordnance stores, unfit for service, in the U. S. Navy Yard, Gosport, Virginia. 

IRON CANNON. 


gjlJnfit for service. 


2 321 

2 18 [Unfit for service. 
6 12 







1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


99 


CARRONADES. 


3 32 pounders 
15 12 

1 gunade 12 pounder ] 

1 swivel [Unfit for service 

2 howitzer J 

152 barrels cannon powder, underproof 
1 half barrel do do 

7 barrels priming do do 

6 half barrels do do 

18 barrels cannon powder, damaged 


6 barrels powder dust 
280 spare stools, for grape 
221 cartridge boxes and belts, old 
10 powder horns 
50 priming wires 
1194 Cylinders, moth eaten 
238 Worms and ladles, old 
33 iron cannon locks, worn out 
42 sponges and rammers 
130 spare stands, for 42 pounders, broken 


Defective and condemned Ordnance stores, at the U. S. Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N. H. 
10 long 18 pounders, trunnions broke | 


SHOT, CANNISTER. 

13 32 pounders, requiring repairs I 91 18 pounders, requiring repairs. 

144 24 old and rusty 


SHOT, GRAPE. 

74 32 pounders, defective 
47 24 do 

46 18 do 

11 boxes, passing, old 

Philadelphia. 


I 21 gun carriages, unfit for service 
10 gun breechings do 
65 ladles and worms, old 
72 canvass boarding belts, old 


Defective and condemned Ordnance, at U. States’ Navy Yard, Philadelphia. 

IRON CANNON. 


2 32 pounders 
2 18 
36 12 


124 9 pounders 
13 6 
74 4 


CANNISTER SHOT. 

6 9 pounder I 255 grape shot and stands 

61 4 


POWDER. 

179 lbs. cannon powder, old I li bbls. damaged 


1 pair damaged pistols 

2 old blunderbusses 
1 musketoon, old 

29 old boarding pikes 
441 passing boxes 
1000 cylinders 


SMALL ARMS, &C. 

2 shot gauges 
181 brushes and prickers 
82 musket worms 
46 bayonets 
27 arm chests 


New )Tork. 

Defective Ordnance and ordnance stores, at the U. S. Navy Yard, N. York. 


4 32 pounders, condemned. 

2 18 do 

1 12 do 

3 long guns 6, 9 & 32 
1 mortar bed 


CARRONADES. 

58 Carronade beds 
88 do skids 
120 do carriages 
I 1768 round shot, assorted 






100 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[17th Congress, 


powder. 


76 

571 

136 

422 

151 

57 

74 

60 

23 

177 


barrels cannon, under roof 
cartouch boxes, requiring repairs 
passing boxes, condemned 
powder horns, requiring repairs 
shackles, feet and hand, do 
pistol cartridge boxes, do 
cartouch & tube boxes, for muskets & 
pistols, requiring repairs 
cartridge boxes and belts, requiring 
repairs 

tube boxes, requiring repairs 
lead aprons do 


1 set of boarding nettings, requiring 
repairs 

25 boarding axes, requiring repairs 


78 do caps do 

177 bolts naval & fighting do 

5 shot boxes do 

41 bolts, for gun carriages do 

225 scabbards and belts do 

94 screws, elevating do 

26 do do female do 

63 lanterns do 

20 shot racks do 


Washington. 


Defective Ordnance, and Ordnance stores, at the U. S. Navy Yard, Washington. 


1911 42 pounder 


1358 24 pounder 

1411 32 


3726 18 

2167 24 


3071 12 

1659 18 

Round shot, 

2588 9 

18734 12 

condemned 

1400 6 

14451 9 



9153 6 



5852 4 • 




Double shot, 
condemned 


SMALL ARMS. 


1632 muskets requiring repairs 
222 do unfit for service 
138 do barrels do 

12 blunderbusses requiring repairs 
40 do unfit for service 

13 repeating guns requiring repairs 

2 patent do do 

765 pistols do 

443 do unfit for service 


992 bayonets unfit for service 
321 bayonets requiring repairs 
1144 cutlasses do 

1660 do unfit for service 
51 battle axes requiring repairs 
320 cannon locks do 

74 musket locks do 

40 pistol do do 


New Orleans. 


Defective Ordnance, and Ordnance Stores, at the U. 8. Navy Yard, New Orleans. 

SMALL ARMS. 


11 blunderbusses bad 
192 Muskets do 

104 pistols do 


53 Musket barrels bad 
4 blunderbusses do 


Erie, Pennsylvania. 

Defective and condemned Ordnance, and Ordnance Stores, at the U. S. Naval station , 

Erie, Penn. 


IRON CANNON. 


7 12 pounders trunnions, &c. broken 
7 6 unfit for service 

4 .swivels, trunnions broken 


2 carronades 32 pounders, Naval piece 
and pomillion broke 
' 3 hand grenades Condemned 

1000 musket cartridges damaged 


POWDER. 


95 lbs. siftings 


29 Muskets unfit for service 
22 pistols requiring repairs 


SMALL ARMS. 

I 1 blunderbusses defective 
I 3 rifles damaged 









1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


101 


SUNDRIES. 

340 cartouch boxes requiring repairs I 30 canisters, without bottoms condemned 

29 lead aprons old I 41 gun carriages broken 

Whitehall. 

Defective and condemned Military stores at Whitehall, Lake Champlain. 


SUNDRIES. 


800 lbs. match rope bad 
22 sheep skins do. 

12 match tubs do. 


1 set gun breeching bad 
500 flannel Cylinders do. moth eaten 
17 lanterns bad 


Defective and condemned Ordnance stores, at Charleston, S. O. 


SHOT, CANNISTER. 


101 32 pr. unfit for service 
160 14 
180 18 
190 12 


90 9 pr. unfit for service 
130 6 
4 4 


GRAPE. 

271 stands, assorted requiring quilting | 124 stands 9 pounder requiring quilting 


Recapitulation of Ordnance stores, procured under the appropriation for the “ Gradual 

Increase” 


16 42 pounders 
219 32 


122 42 pounders 
1 32 
1 24 


IRON CANNON. 

j 1 18 pounder 
CARRONADES. 

1 gunade 24 pounder 
9 howitzers 


ROUND SHOT. 

11886 42 pounder | 21767 32 pounder 

GRAPE SHOT. 

44308 stands 42 pounder | 68986 32 pounder 


STOOLS. 


12 tons. 12 cwt. 1 qr. 5 lbs. 42 pounder | 9 tons. 5 cwt. 2 qr. 1 lb. 2 pounder 

SUNDRIES. 


1 gunner’s hand spike 
52 truck wheels 

2 rammers 

1 gun searchers 

3 gun scrapers 

10 sponges and rammers 
70 carronades 


10£ yards sponge cloth 

28 elevating screws and caps 
3 copper measures 

29 priming wires 
19 boring bitts 
11 gun carriages 







102 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. [ 17 th Congress, 


Recapitulation of Ordnance and Ordnance Stores, procured under former appropriations, 
fit for service, and applicable to general purposes. 


IRON CANNON. 


385 32 pounders 
165 24 
178 18 
125 12 
137 9 


80 6 pounders 
33 4 

2 3 

3 2 
1 1 


CARRONADES. 


1 68 pounders 
170 42 

210 32 
88 24 
71 18 
33 12 
7 9 
5 6 

2 brass 4 pounders 

ROUND 

1151 42 pounder 
36200 32 
63456 24 
18350 18 
13367 12 
21497 9 


26 of different calibres 

10 brass cannon from 1| to 6 pounders 

21 howitzers 
6 Mediums 

42 gunades 
5 mortars 
18 eprouvetts 

22 swivels 

72 repeating swivels 

SHOT. 

12331 6 pounder 
3319 4 

152 starboard and larboard and patent 
hollow shot 
24 Eprouvette balls. 


DOUBLE SHOT. 


92 42 pounder 
2172 32 
3766 24 
2164 18 
3726 12 
3718 9 


1252 6 pounder 
98 4 

2170 assorted 

107 langrage shot, 12 pounder 
88 6 pounder 
217 assorted 


CANNISTER SHOT. 


374 42 pounder 
3564 32 
1531 24 
1477 18 
252 12 


124 9 pounder 
26 6 
303 4 

53092 loose 
114919 lbs. do 


GRAPE SHOT 

3151 42 pounder 
7581 32 
5281 24 
1198 18 
474 12 
451 9 
89 6 
24 4 

1 Box of grape shot 
20 star shot 


STANDS OF. 

324 tonsl 6 cwt. 1 qr. 13 lbs. loose grape 
1762 lbs. do. 

149519 number, loose grape 
3290 shells, assorted 
192 grenades 
23028 stools, assorted 

190 stools and cannister bottoms. 

321 stands, grape and cannister 
133 carronade beds. 


POWDER MATERIALS. 


21332 lbs. crude sulphur 
28051 do. salt petre 
226265 do. refined nitre 


192905 lbs. sulphur 
38154 do. crude nitre 









1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


103 


POWDER. 


2641 t 9 t bbls. cannon powder. 29,979^ lbs. powder. 

79 half barrels do. 2 ullage cask. 

473 quarter casks # do. 

PRIMING POWDER. 


122 barrels 
20 half barrels 
3856| lbs 


11 spears 

206 Muskets, repeaters 
7 blunderbusses 
2 rifles 

1753 Muskets, with bayonets 
1206 do. without do 
721 bayonets 


2 ullage casks, musket 
12 cylinders filled 
18537 cartridges do. 

SMALL ARMS. 

951 pistols 
3417 cutlasses 
2594 boarding pikes 
1323 do axes 
6 do caps 
1 cohorn 

104851 flints, assorted. 

SUNDRIES. 


86 lead aprons 

3 chests apparatus for mortars 
144 bands, iron 

33 do. for gun carriage trucks 
58 cartridge boxes and belts, pistol 

851 do. do. musket 

24 boxes filling 
6 do tube 
24 shot boxes 
340 boxes, passing 
8993 lbs. lead balls 
44270 number of do 
2016 lbs. buck shot 
1 Ullage cask do. 

45 bands, gun carriage 
5 gun breechings 
18 rings for do. 

132 musket and pistol barrels 
97 brackets, for carronades 
104 bolts, naval and fighting 
128 swivel cartridges 
218 cannon do. 

14834 musket cartridges 
9020 do. do filled with balls. 
2276 pistol do do. 

23 carronade checks 

5 casks for powder 
11256 cylinders 

97 gun carriages 

90 yds. of flannel, for cylinders 

34 blue fires 
163 false do 
480 port do 

6 not shot furnaces 
11 grapnels 

617 powder horns 

1 complete set slides & carriages, for | 
guns at Whitehall 
1 barrel blue lights 
20 in number do 


2 boxes blue lights 

200 do do and false fire cases 
470 lanterns, assorted 
175 locks, good 
122 do cannon 
53 do musket 
120 do gun 
57 loggerheads 

30 rings with straps, for loggerheads 
4 copper measures 
30 gun mallets 

3 moulds, bullet 

3 reams cartridge paper 
33£ quires do do • 

26 lynch pins 
2189 lbs. match rope 
43 rockets 

57 sponge and rammer heads 
481 sponges and do assorted 
13 stocks false fire 


13 

do 

blue lights 

62 

do 

match 

650 

do 

pistol 

518 

do 

gun 

150 

do 

lint 


91 screw elevating 

15 spindles, gun 
69 sheep skins 

1 gun searcher 
32 scrapers 

231 shackles, feet and hand 
60 tubes, priming 

16 do match 

200 gun trucks, for carriages 
3 tongs, hot shot 
40 monkey tails 
1767 tubes, priming 
601 priming wires 
495 worms & ladles 
2281 wads, assorted 








104 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS 


[17th Congress, 


Recapitulation of defective and condemned Ordnance and Ordnance Stores. 


5 32 prs. rust eaten, defective 
4 32 condemned 

2 18 rusty 

10 18 trunnions broke 

2 18 defective 

2 18 condemned 


5 32 prs. defective 
15 12 do 

5 swivels defective 


IRON CANNON. 

49 12 prs. defective 
1 12 condemned 
130 9 defective 

22 6 do 

7 6 unfit for service 
74 4 defective 

CARRONADES. 

1 gunade defective 

2 howitzers do 

3 hand grenades condemned 


1911 42 pounders 
1411 32 
2167 24 
1659 18 
18734 12 


^Condemned 


ROUND SHOT. 

14451 9 pounders ] 

9153 6 [Condemned 

5852 4 J 

1768 assorted 


DOUBLE SHOT. 

1385 24 pounders | 2588 9 pounders } Condemned 

3726 18 [Condemned 1400 6 J 

3071 12 


CANNISTER SHOT. 


13 32 prs. defective, unfit for service 
101 32 do 

304 24 do 

182 18 do 

91 18 defective 

GRAPE 

255 assorted defective 
271 requiring quilting 

74 32 prs. defective 
47 24 do 


190 

12 prs. 

unfit for service 

96 

9 

do 

130 

6 

do 

65 

4 

do 


SHOT, STANDS. 

46 18 prs. defective 
124 9 requiring quilting 
280 spare stools defective 


228 barrels cannon Under roof 
7 half barrels do do 
49£ barrels, damaged do 


7 barrels under proof 
6 half barrels do 


POWDER. 

179 lbs. old 
6 barrels dust 
95 lbs. siftings 

PRIMING. 

I 18 barrels damaged 


SMALL ARMS. 


3 rifles damaged 

12 blunderbusses in bad condition 


12 

do 

requiring repairs 

42 

do 

unfit for service 

4 

do 

barrels bad 

1632 muskets 

requiring repairs 

192 

do 

in bad condition 

251 

do 

unfit for service 


1 musketoon old 
797 Pistols requiring repairs 
105 do bad condition 
443 do unfit for service 

53 musket barrels in bad order 
138 do do unfit for service 


74 musket locks requiring repairs 
40 pistol do do do 

13 repeating guns do do 

2 patent guns do do 

321 bayonets do do 

1038 do unfit for service 
1144 cutlasses requiring repairs 
1660 do unfit for service 
76 boarding axes requiring repairs 
29 do pikes old 
78 do caps requiring repairs 
320 cannon locks do do 
33 do do worn out 
72 boarding belts old 











l&'C Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


105 


SUNDRIES. 


29 lead aprons old 
177 do do requiring repairs 
41 bolts for gun carriage do 
1 mortar bed condemned 
58 carronade beds do 
5 shot boxes requiring repairs 
1 set gun breechings bad 
10 gun breechings unfit for service 
221 cartridge boxes old 
1102 do do and belts requiring 
repairs 

23 tube boxes requiring repairs 
181 brushes & prickers bad 
177 naval & fighting bolts requiring re¬ 
pairs 

120 gun carriages condemned 
21 do do unfit for service 
41 do do broken 
10000 cartridges damaged 
1694 cylinders moth eaten 
1000 do bad condition 


27 arm chests bad condition 
30 cannisters condemned 
2 shot gauges bad condition 
10 powder horns unfit for service 
422 do do requiring repairs 
80 lanterns do do 

1 set boarding netting do do 

20 shot racks do do 

800 lbs. match rope do do bad 

22 sheep skins do 

225 scabbard and belts requiring repairs 
130 stands for shots broken 
42 sponges and rammers defective 
88 skids condemned 
151 shackles, feet and hand requiring 
repairs 

120 elevating screws requiring repairs 
12 match tubs bad 
50 priming wires bad 
385 worms and ladles old and defective 


Made March 29, 1822. 

Read, and ordered to lie on the table. 

No. 80. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the resolu¬ 
tion of the House of Representatives of the 4th instant, instructing 
them to inquire into the expediency of modifying the 
modifying the act for Act, entitled “An Act for the gradual increase of the 
theNa^y alincreaseof Navy of the United States,” so as to require a part of 
the annual appropriation to be expended in the con¬ 
struction of vessels of an inferior force to those now authorized by 
said law to be built, make the following 

report: 

That, by the Act above referred to, passed the 29th April, 1816, the 
sum of one million of dollars per annum was appropriated for the 
gradual increase of the Navy of the United States; and the President 
of the United States was authorized to cause to be built nine ships to 
rate not less than 74 guns each, and twle ships to rate not less than 
44 guns each, including one 74 and three 44 gun ships authorized by 
a previous law; the President was also authorized to procure steam 
engines, and all imperishable materials necessary for building and 
equipping three steam batteries; and, by the 4th section of the Act, it 
was provided that moneys appropriated by this Act shall not be trans¬ 
ferred to any other object of expenditure. By the Act of 3d March, 
1821, instead of the appropriation contained in the original act, the 
sum of 500,000 dollars per annum for six years, was appropriated, to 
carry into effect the purposes of the said Act; and that the whole of 
this sum will be required to complete the objects contemplated by 
these Acts. 




106 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[17th Congress, 


That, pursuant to the instructions and objects of these laws, there 
has been built and equipped one ship of the line, viz. the Columbus; 
and that there have been built and launched three ships of the line, 
viz. the Ohio, the North Carolina, and the Deleware; and one frigate, 
at Washington, the Potomac. That there is now on the stocks, built 
and ready to launch, one ship of the line, at Boston; that there are 
now on the stocks, nearly finished, one ship of the line, at Portsmouth, 
N. H. one frigate at Philadelphia, and one frigate, at New York; that 
there is on the stocks, about half finished, one ship of the line, at 
Gosport, Virginia; that preparations have for some time past been 
making for putting on the stocks one ship of the line, at Boston, one 
frigate at New York, one frigate at Portsmouth, N. H. and one frigate 
at Washington; and that the frames and nearly all the timber, and 
the other materials have been provided for building one ship of the 
line at Philadelphia, one frigate at Washington, one frigate at Boston, 
and one frigate at Norfolk; that the live oak frames, and nearly all the 
other timber, and two steam engines, have been provided for two 
steam batteries at New York, and one steam battery at Washington. 

The Committee further report, that the articles on hand, and those 
contracted for, could not be advantageously applied to the building 
of vessels of a smaller class than those for which they were provided 
and designed. u The frames of our ships of the line are all got to 
moulds; each particular piece has its appropriate place in the frame,” 
and the labor of reducing them to a size suitable for smaller vessels, 
would be nearly, if not quite, equal to the expense of a new frame. 
The copper provided, too, is generally heavier than is used for sloops 
of war. 

In the opinion of the Committee, the frames being cut to moulds, 
which, being the cheaper and better plan, the Commissioners of the 
Navy, with a due regard to the before recited acts, were authorized 
to direct, there would be great risk in losing them entirely, by their 
warping out of place, if they are not put together. 

The Committee are of opinion, also, that the fund appropriated for 
the gradual increase of the Navy cannot be diverted to other objects, 
consistently with good faith, or the real interests of the nation. 

The policy was adopted upon great consideration, and with a view 
to the defence of our sea coast, and in a well founded conviction that 
it was wis.e and prudent gradually to increase our naval force in time 
of peace, and to render it efficient in the exigencies to which the 
country must be always more or less exposed. It is believed that 
the best defence for this country, and that on which it must principally 
rely, not only for the protection of our commerce, but to prevent the 
actual invasion of the soil, is the naval force. The act for the gradual 
increase of the Navy was founded on this presumption, and designed 
by gradual means, in a manner least oppressive to the country, to lay 
the foundation of an efficient naval power, and to prepare in time of 
peace that description of force, which could not be easily raised up in 
time of war, but which would be indispensable'in such a crisis. It 
requires much time and great care to prepare the materials and con¬ 
struct the vessels of that class provided for in the acts, and the 
experience of the late war had fully demonstrated the necessity of 
such a force, by teaching us the facility with which the enemy could 
blockade a large portion of our coast with a single ship of the line. 


1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


107 


The Committee are of opinion that it would be unwise to change 
this system founded upon so many important considerations, without 
some urgent necessity, and in their opinion none such exists. On the 
contry, there seems to be even stronger reasons for adhering to the 
policy, and cherishing the growth of our naval power, now that 
foreign nations are modeling their naval architecture after our 
improvements, and at a moment when our foreign relations are about 
to be extended upon a scale which should at least admonish us 
against any diminution of, or an indifference to, the means of national 
defence. 

The Committee are aware of the importance of sloops of war, as a 
class of naval force, indispensable both in time of peace and war, but 
they are a class which may be provided in a shorter time, and with 
considerable advantage, even after the exigency has arisen; and 
though they would be useful in time of peace for many services, and 
especially for the discipline of our officers, and the more effectual 
suppression of the piratical marauders upon our commerce, the Com¬ 
mittee believe it would be unwise to break in upon the fund for the 
gradual increase of the Navy even for such objects; and they there¬ 
fore recommend the adoption of the following resolution: 

Resolved , That it is inexpedient to modify the act, entitled “An 
act for the gradual increase of the Navy of the United States,” so as 
to require a part of the annual appropriation to be expended in the 
construction of vessels of an inferior force to those now authorized by 
the said law to be built. 


17 th CONGRESS, 2 nd SESSION. 


In the House of Representatives 

of the United States, 

December 3d, 1822. 

A Committee on Naval Affairs was appointed, consisting of 

Mr. Fuller, Chairman 
Mr. Randolph, 

Mr. Gilmer, 

Mr. Colden, Members. 

Mr. Warfield, 

Mr. Plumer, Pa. & 

Mr. Harvey. 


Made December 31, 1822. 

Read, and with a bill for the relief of the Mother, &c. of Lieutenant 

Allen, committed to a Committee of the whole House tomorrow. 

No. 59. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was committed the 
resolution of the House of Representatives, of the 10th inst. instruct- 
Mother & unmar- i n g them “ to inquire into the expediency of allowing 
ried sister of Lieut to the widowed Mother of Lieutenant William H. 

Allen, late of the Navy of the United States, a pension 
for five years,” submit the following 

report: 

It appears, by the official letter of Lieutenant Dale to the Secretary 
of the Navy Department, dated the 16th of November last, that, on 
the morning of the 9th of that month, the United States’ schooner 
Alligator, then under the command of Lieutenant Allen, in pursuit 
of several piratical vessels, lying near Point Hyacos, on the north side 
of the Island of Cuba, came to anchor as near them as the shoal water 
permitted; that Lieutenant Allen, in the launch, accompanied by the 
other boats of the Alligator, and about thirty men, attacked a 
schooner of the pirates, under a heavy fire of round and grape shot, 
carried her, and proceeded in pursuit of another schooner, at a small 
distance, manned by near a hundred pirates, including those who 
fled from the former; but before the boats of the Alligator were near 
enough to board, Lieutenant Allen received two severe wounds, one 
of which proved mortal, and he died in consequence thereof, several 
hours after. Besides the piratical vessel aforesaid, five American 
merchant vessels were retaken, and many of the pirates destroyed. 

109 





110 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[17th Congress, 


It further appears, that Lieutenant Allen left neither widow nor 
children, and that no person, by the existing laws, can claim any 
pension or bounty in consequence of his being killed in the service of 
his country; but it also appears, that, for several years past, he had 
applied a large part of his wages and emoluments to the maintenance 
or his mother and youngest unmarried sister, and that, by his death, 
they are left utterly destitute of support. That, when expiring of 
his wounds, he expressed satisfaction that he was dying in the service 
of his country, and earnestly commended his mother and sister to 
its protection. 

Your Committee are of opinion, that the same wise and humane 
policy which actuates the national government in providing for the 
widows and children of deceased officers and seamen, and marines, 
who are slain in battle, or die of wounds received in the line of their 
duty, is equally applicable to the present case; and that the bravery 
and good conduct of Lieutenant Allen, and his commendable solicitude 
for the welfare of his mother and sister, render it just and proper that 
provision should be made for their support, equal to one-half his 
monthly pay as a Lieutenant in the Navy, for the term of five years, 
and they report a bill accordingly. 


Navy Department, 
December 28th, 1822. 

Sir, 

In compliance with your request, on behalf of the Naval Com¬ 
mittee of the House of Representatives, I have the honor to enclose 
17 th r n wu, a C0 Py the report of Lieutenant John M. Dale, 
on g . c ss. comman( jj n g 0 ffi cer 0 f the United States’ schooner 
Alligator after the death of Lieutenant Commandant William H. 
Allen, which contains all the information in this Department rela¬ 
tive to the death of that gallant Officer. 

I have the honor to be, 

With great respect, Sir, 

Your Obedient servant, 


Smith Thompson. 


Honorable Timothy Fuller, 

Chairman of Naval Committee 

House of Representatives. 


United States’ Schooner Alligator, 

Matanzas, November 16th, 1822. 

Sir, 

By the unfortunate death of Lieutenant Commandant Allen, it 
devolves upon me the duty of communicating to you the result of an 
attack on two piratical schooners by the boats of the Alligator. 
When about coming to, in this harbor, on the 8th instant, we were 
informed that two American vessels were captured by the pirates, in 
a bay round St. Hyacos, about- 40 miles to windward of this place. 
We immediately stood out, taking with us the Captain of one, and the 
Mate of the other vessel, who had been sent here to ransom them; as 
also a small American schooner, which the Captain and Merchants 
were fitting out. 




2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


Ill 


Early on the morning of the 9th, we discovered several vessels to 
an anchor among the stone keys, near the Cape, and a schooner 
getting under way; the water being shoal, we came to an anchor, and 
manned the boats: 

In the launch, Captain Allen, Captain Freeman of the Marines, the 
Master of the merchant vessel before alluded to, and thirteen men. 

In the Cutter, Lieutenant Dale, the mate of the other vessel, and 
ten men. 

In the gig, Midshipman Henley, and four men. 

In the small merchant schooner, acting Lieutenant Cunningham, 
the Master of the Schooner, acting Midshipmen Ball and Jenkins, and 
twenty men, including merchant sailors; leaving the Alligator in 
charge of acting Sailing Master V. M. Randolph, and eighteen men. 
The result of which you will perceive by the following extract from 
the log book: 

At 9.30, the boats came within gun-shot of the chase, when she 
commenced firing with round and grape, having the red flag at her 
mast head: 9.40, came close up with her, under a heavy fire from 
her long guns and musketry, when they deserted her for another 
schooner, who had been firing on us about pistol shot to leeward: 
left Midshipmen Henley and four men on board the prize, the launch 
and cutter giving chase to the second schooner; 9.50, being close 
under the stern of the enemy, the men in the boats having suffered 
considerably by their fire, so as to impede their velocity, many of 
their oars being rendered unmanageable, dropped along side of the 
prize, which had kept away after us; cleared away for action, and 
got the killed and wounded on board: perceived a third schooner, 
full of men, in shore, both of which made sail, and run off. Stood 
out again for the Alligator: at Meridian, came to along side of her, 
and sent the wounded on board. 

Killed. Wounded. 

James Denny, (O. S.) Captain Allen, (mortally) since dead. 

Thos. White, (S.) Elijah Place, (S.) do do 

John Phillips (O. S.) dangerously. 
Jno. Stevens, (B. M.) severely. 

Daniel Green, (S.) do 

Captain Allen died a few hours after the action. The merchant 
schooner grounded before doubling the point; and, notwithstanding 
the active exertions of Mr. Cunningham, she was unable to aid in the 
action. 

FORCE OF THE ENEMY. 

First pirate, a schooner of 80 tons, mounting 1 long 12 pounder 
on a pivot, 2 long 6 pounders, 2 3 pounders, and 2 swivels; 35 men. 

Second pirate, a schooner of 60 tons, 1 long 18 pounder, 2 long 6 
pounders; 60 men. 

Third pirate, a schooner of 90 tons, 1 42 pound carronade, 1 long 
18 pounder on a pivot, and 4 long 6 pounders; 30 men. 

Besides the first pirate, we have recaptured, on this expedition, 
five American vessels, which were in their possession, viz: one ship, 
two brigs, and two schooners, all of which I have ordered into Charles¬ 
ton for adjudication, under charge of Captain Freeman, of the Marine 
Corps. 


112 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[17th Congress, 


By the preceding details, you may at once perceive the gallantry 
and heroic enterprize of my much lamented Commander, and the 
good conduct of all. I cannot conclude this communication without 
bringing to your notice Captain Freeman, of the Marines, who volun¬ 
teered his services, and whose coolness and bravery during the whole 
transaction, excited the admiration of all concerned, and to whose 
services since, I am extremely indebted. 

I have the honor to be, Sir, 

With the highest respect, 

J. M. Dale, 

Commanding U. S. Schooner Alligator. 


P. S. By the best information I have been enabled to collect here, 
14 of the pirates are killed, and several drowned in attempting to 
make their escape from the prize. I have also to inform you that 
we pulled 10 miles in the boats before we came up with the enemy. 

Hon Smith Thompson, 

Secretary of the Navy. 

P. S. A gentleman who was introduced to me by Dr. Watson 
(whose name I do not recollect,) told me that he was with Lieutenant 
Allen after he received his mortal wound, till his death. That he 
was all this time cheerful, and appeared satisfied to have sacrificed 
his life for his country. The only expression of regret or mental pain 
that escaped was, that he should leave his mother and sister destitute; 
but he reconciled himself to a separation from them, with the hope 
that his country would take care of them. Almost with his last 
breath he commended them to the justice and humanity of the 
nation. 


Made January 13, 1823. 

Read, and resolution concurred in. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was committed a reso¬ 
lution of the House of Representatives, instructing them to consider 
the expediency of making provision for the widow and child of 
Lieut. Geo. Peirce, late of the United States’ Navy, who died of 
disease contracted on board the U. S. Frigate Macedonian, respect¬ 
fully submit the following 

report: 

It appears to the Committee that Lieut. Peirce, mentioned in the 
resolution aforesaid, while serving in the line of his duty on board 
the Frigate Macedonian on her late cruise, con- 
Lt W peirce & chlld of tracted the disease of which he died at Craney Island, 
after her return to the United States. The Com¬ 
mittee are of opinion that the claim of a pension in behalf of his 
widow or children ought to be made to the Commissioners of the 
Navy Pension Fund, being comprehended within the provisions of 
the act passed on the 3d of March, 1817, in relation to the subject. 
They therefore submit the following resolution: 

Resolved , That the Committee on Naval Affairs be discharged from 
the further consideration of the resolution of the 16th December 



2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


113 


last, in relation to the provision for the widow and child of Lieut 
George Peirce, deceased, and that the same be referred to the Com¬ 
missioners of the Navy Pension Fund. 


Made January 13, 1823. 

Accompanied by a bill for the relief of Penelope Denney. 

No. 62. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was committed the 
petition of Penelope Denney, the Mother of James Denny, late a 
Penelope Denny. £ unner ^ the Navy of the United States, praying 
some provision in her behalf; and to whom was also 
committed a resolution of the House of Representatives, in relation 
to the same subject, submit the following 

report: 

They find by the official letter of Lieut. Dale, communicating to 
the Navy Department the particulars of the late rencontre with the 
pirates, by the boats of the United States Schooner Alligator, on the 
9th of Nov. last, that James Denney, a quarter gunner on board said 
schooner, was killed by a discharge of musketry from the decks of 
the piratical vessel about the same time, that Lieut. Allen received 
his mortal wounds. They also find that said Denny had for several 
months before his decease had contributed one half of his monthly 
pay for the support of his mother, who is a widow, and, as she repre¬ 
sents, is destitute of the means of providing for herself, and had 
given orders for a similar contribution for her out of his future wages 
for more than a year to come. 

The Committee believing that similar reasons exist in the present 
case, as in that of the mother and sister of Lieut. Allen, respectfully 
refer to their report in that case, and in pursuance of the principles 
there stated, they report a bill in favor of the present petitioner. 


Made January 20, 1823. 

Accompanying the bill to fix the naval peace establishment. 

No. 63. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was committed the 
Message of the President of the United States, trans- 
iishment Peace Estab * niitting a plan for the Peace establishment of the 
Navy of the United States, communicated at the 
present session of Congress, respectfully 

report: 

Before the late War between the United States and Great Britian, 
several acts of Congress at different periods established the amount 

39889—10-8 




114 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[17th Congress, 


and character of the naval force, which was then deemed commen¬ 
surate with our national rsources, and adapted to the state of our 
relations with foreign countries, existing or anticipated. The changes, 
however, were so frequent, and the efforts to increase our naval 
strength were so incessant, that it was found in practice unnecessary 
to limit the number of vessels to be constructed, except by a due 
appropriation of our fiscal means; and had these been greater at 
the period of the War, there is no doubt, that the policy of our gov¬ 
ernment would have increased our Navy in equal proportion at least 
with our other Military defences. 

Since that war, which so fully developed to our Country and the 
world the vigor and efficiency of the American Naval character, even 
when we possessed only an inconsiderable number of Officers and 
ships of war, our government has but filfilled the wishes of the nation 
in adopting and steadily adhering to a liberal plan for the “gradual 
increase,” and early respectability of our naval power. 

The act appropriating the sum of eight millions of dollars, to be 
employed in constructing nine ships of the line and twelve frigates, 
with a subsequent modification extending the time for the accom¬ 
plishment of the object, is still in force, and the ships proposed are 
m such a state of forwardness, that there is reason to expect their 
completion and equipment within the time contemplated, and without 
requiring additional appropriations. 

While such has been our policy in regard to the construction of 
vessels of war, the Executive, not being restrained by any provision 
of existing laws, has continued to increase, by occasional promotions, 
and by new appointments in the inferior grades, the number of 
Officers in our Naval service; yet, tho’ the present number in some 
of the grades perhaps exceeds the indispensable complement of the 
vessels already built, it falls far short of such complement for those, 
which are in a train of speedy completion. The Committee have also 
adverted to the circumstance, that a much larger number of sloops 
and small vessels of war will be wanted, to form a just proportion to 
the ships of the larger classes in the event of a contest with any 
maritime power. They would remark also, as proved by the experi¬ 
ence of other nations perhaps even more than our own, that ships 
may be constructed and equipped in far les§ time on the approach of 
war, than is requisite to discipline and train a corps of officers, to 
whom the command of them might be safely entrusted. The Com¬ 
mittee therefore believe that it is not expedient to diminish the 
present number of Officers in service, and as they are disposed 
especially to refer to the discretion of the Executive the expediency, 
of increasing to a reasonable extent, the number of Midshipmen, as 
a class of Officers, to whom our future Navy must look for experience, 
discipline, and nautical science. Advantage might be supposed to 
accrue to the public service by stricking from the list of Officers some, 
whose age or infirmaties render them no longer useful; but a power 
of so much delicacy ought never to be exercised by legislation. If its 
policy or justice were admitted, the Executive is the only organ of 
the Constitution, which, in the discharge of such a duty, possesses the 
competent means of information, and which ought therefore to 
assume the responsibility. Yet it is believed, on no slight grounds, 
that the Corps of Naval Officers in our service yield to no equal number 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


115 


of any nation in correctness of deportment, and sobriety of habit, as 
well as in Nautical skill, experience, & characteristic boldness. 

A considerable expenditure will be saved by the provision proposed 
in the organization of the several Naval stations, and the recom¬ 
mendation of the Department of the Navj- is deemed by the Com¬ 
mittee to be founded on just principles, in making a distinction 
between officers on shore, and those who are either in active service, 
or for the most part remote from their families and their homes. 

The medical Department of the Naval service has been fully con¬ 
sidered by the Committee; and they have had recourse to all the 
means of information in their power to discover the nature and 
extent of defects acknowledged to exist, for the purpose of proposing 
if possible an effectual remedy. They are fully convinced, that 
appointments in that branch of service have hitherto been made with 
top little discrimination, and that many have entered it who, on a due 
examination of their competency, would have been rejected. They 
are equally convinced that the pay and emoluments of surgeons and 
surgeons mates, though perhaps sufficient to induce young practi¬ 
tioners to engage for a few years, with a view to avail themselves of 
the superior practical advantages to be found in the service, are very 
incompetent to retain in service many of the most able, and faithful 
of the faculty. The compensation for the most learned, experienced, 
and useful surgeon, even after a life devoted to duty, is but little 
greater, than that of a Lieutenant; and his slender compensation is 
not, like that of the latter, submitted to for the present in prospect 
of approaching promotion. Neither honors nor increasing pay 
encourage him to improve in knowledge and signalize himself by 
superior merit. Though many of the Surgeons in our navy are men 
of skill and eminence, it is feared that many have abandoned the 
service in disgust, and that of those who remain some of the most 
valuable are retained by the hope of a more suitable provision being 
made by an enlightened Country. The Committee believe that the 
sections in the bill, which they have submitted, will place the Medical 
Corps of the Navy on such a basis, as comports with the true interest 
of the service. 

These are some of the considerations, which have guided the Com¬ 
mittee in proposing a Naval Peace Establishment of the character 
and extent provided in the bill, which accompanies this report. They 
are not so sanguine as to expect that all its details, tho* generally founded 
upon the recommendation of the Secretary of tlieNav}", assisted by 
the practical experience of the board attached to the Department, 
will meet the concurrence of the House. It may be proper to state 
that the proposition of establishing higher grades of rank, than have 
heretofore existed, may be deemed by some inexpedient at this time; 
and the Committee are led to acquiesce in the recommendation of the 
department more with a view to the future condition of our Navy and 
to the part it must hereafter act in any conflict with a maratime 
power, than from an opinion that its present circumstances render 
the measure indispensable. Even in peace however they are of 
opinion, that superior rank in the Naval as well as in the Military 
service will be conducive to subordination and wholesome discipline, 
and the inconsiderable addition of expense, which it involves, ought 
not to present an obstacle to the attainment of an obvious benefit. 


116 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[17th Congress, 


The Committee are far from intending, by the measure now 
proposed, to arrest the progress, or to retard the development, of 
our Xaval resources, so far as may correspond with the just views of 
policy and the sound discretion of our Government: and they would 
hesitate to recommend its adoption at the present session of Congress, 
did they not deem its tendency propitious to that progress, and to 
those views. But in case it should be found otherwise, it will be per¬ 
ceived by those, who shall hereafter be intrusted with the regulation 
of our maratime defences, and the error when discovered will, without 
doubt, be promptly corrected. 


Made January 21, 1S23. 

Read, and with the bill committed to a Committee of the whole 
House tomorrow. 

Xo. 65. 

The Committee on Xaval Affairs, to whom was committed the 
petition of Sarah Perry, mother of Oliver H. Perry, 
Sarah Perry. late a Captain in the Xavy of the United States, 
respectfully 

report : 

By the decease of the son of the petitioner, Captain Oliver H. 
Perry, and subsequently by the decease of another son, a Lieutenant 
in the X avy, she has been deprived of the support which those sons 
had successively bestowed; and is, as sufficiently appears to the 
Committee, advanced in years and incapable of providing for herself. 

The eminent services of her son first mentioned having called forth 
the bounty of the Government in providing for his widow and 
children by an act for their refief, passed on the 3d of March, 1821, 
the Committee believe that his Mother, the present petitioner, is 
entitled to consideration in at least an equal degree, and for similar 
reasons; they therefore report a bill in her favor. 


Made January 21, 1823. 

Read, and committed to the Committee of the whole House to which 
is committed the Bill for the relief of Penelope Denney. 

Xo. 66. 

The Committee on Xaval Affairs to whom was committed the 
petition of Julia Lawrence, praying for a continuance of her pension, 
and to whom was also committed a resolution on 

Julia Lawrence. the same Subject, 




2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


117 


report: 

The pension allowed by law to the widow and orphan children of 
deceased Officers of the Xavy of the United States, isl imited to the 
term of five years, but by an Act. passed on the 16tli April. 1818, the 
term of five years more was added to the former period, by which 
pensioners comprehended within its provisions enjoyed the advantage 
of the original law for a second period equal to the former. The 
petitioner has had the benefit of this extension, and her onlv remaining 
child is now arrived at an age. when the necessary expense of her 
support is probably much less, than when the pension was originallv 
allowed. The second period is not vet expired: and tho’ the Com¬ 
mittee duly appreciate the merit and bravery of Captain Lawrence, 
the deceased husband of the petitioner, they are of opinion that it is 
inexpedient, at the present time, to grant her request. They recom¬ 
mend the following resolution: 

Resolved, That petitioner have leave to withdraw her petition. 


Made January 21, 1S23. 

Read, and with the bill committed to a Committee of the whole 
House, on Penelope Denney. 

The Committee on Xaval Affairs, to whom was re-committed the 
. Bill for the relief of the mother and unmarried sister 
LieaiLWn?mABan* of Lieut. William H. Allen, deceased, respectfully 

report: 

Since the bill before mentioned was reported to the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives. the decease of Lydia Allen, the mother of Lieut. Wm. H. 
Allen, being stated to them, they have struck from the bill so much 
thereof, as provided a pension or annuity for her support, and retain¬ 
ing only so much of the bill as provides a pension for his sister, con¬ 
forming in this respect to the principles originallv stated in their 
report upon the subject. 


Wade January 22, 1S23. 

Read, and, with the Bill, committed to a Committee of the whole 
House, to which is committed the Bill for the relief of James 
Ross. 

Xo. 68. 

The Committee on Xaval Affairs, to which was referred the Memo¬ 
rial of James H. Clarke, 




118 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[17th Congress, 


REPORT: 

That at the times of the transactions herein after mentioned, the 
memorialist was a purser, attached to the frigate United States, 
which was one of the squadron stationed in the 
James H. Clark. Mediterranean, commanded by Commodore Shaw. 
That in November, 1815, the Memorialist was ordered by his com¬ 
manding office to take a part of the money, which the Memorialist 
at that time drew for the supplies of the squadron, and to proceed 
from Port Mahon to Marseilles, to purchase clothing for the crew of 
the frigate. That it is proved to the satisfaction of the Committee, 
that the Memorialist counted out and took with him $1600, in half 
doubloons, of the public money, and proceeded ageeably to his orders 
in the schooner Hornet to Marseilles. That he was accompanied by 
Major John Hall of the United States’ Marine Corps, who also had 
with him a considerable sum of money for the public service. That 
the Memorialist took with him, by order of Commodore Shaw, a 
foreigner by the name of Roggere, who had then lately entered as a sea¬ 
man on board the frigate, to serve as an Interpreter for the Memorialist 
in his negotiations for the articles he was to purchase, and to supply 
the place of a servant of the Memorialist, which he left on board the 
frigate. 

That the Memorialist, Major Hall, and Roggere arrived at Mar¬ 
seilles on the 24, November, 1815, and lodged at an Hotel. At the 
request of Major Hall the Memorialist put the public money with 
which the Major was charged, in a trunk of the Memorialist, in which 
was the sixteen hundred dollars before mentioned. The trunk was 
under lock and key in a chamber of the Hotel, which was also kept 
locked, when neither of the occupants were in it, and the key, as is 
the custom of the country, was given to the porter. 

That on the night of the third of December, 1815, the trunk of the 
Memorialist was broken open; the money which appertained to Major 
Hall, and more than half of the sixteen hundred dollars with which the 
Memorialist was charged, were stolen. That the evidence before the 
Committee leaves no doubt but that the robbery was committed by 
the before mentioned Roggere who absconded, and has ever since 
been considered as a deserter. That the Memorialist and Major 
Hall appear to have taken immediate measures to discover the 
robber; that they engaged the prompt and active exertions of the 
American Consul, and of the police at Marseilles, but the thief was 
not detected, nor any part of the money restored. 

That on the 20th April, 1818, Congress passed an act for the 
relief of Major Hall, allowing him 2400 dollars, which were stolen at 
the same time, and out of the same trunk, as that for which the 
Memorialist prays to be allowed. 

That the evidence is not very satisfactory as to the precise amount 
of the money stolen from the Memorialist; but the Committee think 
it sufficiently proved that it was not less than eight hundred and 
sixteen dollars. 

The Committee are aware of the caution with which public agents 
ought to be reimbursed money stolen from them; but as in this case, 
the evidence as to the fact of the robbery is very clear, and as it 
appears that the Memorialist is not chargeable with any negligence 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


119 


or carelessness; that he used every possible exertion to recover the 
property, and as Congress have granted relief to Major Hall, they 
pray leave to report a bill in favor of the Memorialist. 

All which is respectfully submitted: 


Made January 29, 1823. 

Read, and concurred in. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was committed the 
petition of Stephen Rudd, praying for a pecuniary allowance in 
Stephen Rudd consideration of an invention for propelling vessels 
in a calm, alleged to have been used by ships in the 
United States’ Navy, respectfully 

report: 

The petitioner states that he has obtained a patent for his inven¬ 
tion, and that he obtained from the Secretary of the Navy an order 
to Capt. Thomas Gamble, commanding the brig Spark, to investigate 
its merits by actual experiment, and that the experiment was fully 
made in the Mediterranean by ships belonging to the squadron, then 
commanded by Commodore Decatur. The Committee on this state¬ 
ment applied to the Department of the Navy, presuming that if the 
invention claimed by the petitioner had been submitted to an experi¬ 
ment as stated, and had been found useful, that evidence to that 
effect would be readily obtained. It appears however by the reply 
of the Secretary, and that of the Board of Navy Commissioners 
that an experiment had been made to ascertain the utility of an 
invention similar to that of the petitioner, claimed by Sailing Master 
Doxey, and that no advantage had been found to result from it. 

As the petitioner has not exhibited to the Committee any evidence 
that the invention claimed by him has been used by the Vessels in the 
public service, nor that it could be so used advantageously. The 
Committee recommend the adoption of the following resolution. 

* Resolved , That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition. 


(Copy.) 

Navy Commissioners’ Office, 

18 December, 1822. 

Sir, 

In reply to the letter of the Hon’ble Tim 0 Fuller, of the 17th inst. 
which you were pleased to refer to this Board, the Commissioners of 
the Navy have to observe that the only Machine, for propelling 
vessels in a calm, which, to their knowledge, has been tried in the 
Navy, was invented by Sailing Master Doxey, the advantages of 
which, if it posses any, they are not apprized of. 

I have the honor to be, 

With great respect, &c. 


(Signed.) 


John Rodgers. 


120 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[17th Congress, 


Made January 29, 1823. 

Read, and ordered to lie on the table. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was committed the 
Jos: g. Roberts. petition of Joseph G. Roberts, respectfully 

report: 

The petitioner states that at the commencement of the late war 
with Great Britain he was a Surgeon’s Mate in the Navy of the 
United States, and that in autumn of the year 1812, he was ordered 
with other officers then on the New York station to join the expedition 
on Lake Erie; that in August 1813, a hospital was established at the 
town of Erie where he was ordered by Commodore Perry, who com¬ 
manded the expedition on the Lake, to attend upon the sick, and that 
when the action of the 10th of September following took place, he 
was on shore discharging his duty at the Hospital. The petitioner 
further states that he considers himself entitled bv law and the regu¬ 
lations of the service to a distributive share of the Prize money, 
granted by an act of Congress, passed on the 18th of April, 1814, to 
be distributed to the Captors of the vessels of the enemy in that action, 
but that he has never received it or any part thereof. 

The Secretary of the Navy Department, in reply to a letter 
addressed to him by the Committee, has informed them that the name 
of the petitioner does not appear upon the prize list for Lake Erie, 
and consequently that no allotment ( was made to him of the prize 
money before mentioned, but that he was at the town of Erie during 
the action, and does not appear to have ever served in the fleet; and 
that the whole of the prize money granted by the act of Congress 
has been full}" distributed. It further appears by documents in the 
Department that the petitioner being under arrest for alleged mis¬ 
conduct resigned his Commission in May, 1815, in preference to await¬ 
ing the issue of a trial by .a Court Martial. 

As there was no evidence before the Committee that the petitioner 
was ever attached to the Squadron on Lake Erie, under Commodore 
Perry, they are bound to presume that he was properly omitted in 
making the list for the distribution of prize money, especially as tlfat 
list was probably formed from the regular official roll of officers & 
men attached to each vessel in that service. If any mistake occurred 
in regard to the omission, the petitioner is bound to establish the fact, 
before he can have any claim for prize-money, and being an officer of 
a grade not likely to have been at the time ignorant either of the 
regulations in such cases, or the grant of prize money, it would seem 
that he ought to have made his application seasonably to the Depart¬ 
ment to have had his name inserted, at least before the money was 
distributed, which usually does not take place for a considerable time 
after the prize list is made, and the fact of his not being in the action, 
would naturally have suggested to him the probability of his not 
being included. Whether he would be entitled to relief if he had 
established the fact that he was improperly omitted, or not, it is not 
at present necessary to determine; but as he has offered no evidence 
satisfactory to the Committee that he was entitled to prize money as 
an officer attached to the fleet, they recommend that he have leave 
to withdraw his petition. 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


121 


Navy Department, 

January 23d, 1823. 

Sir, 

In reply to your inquiries relative to the claim of Joseph G. Roberts, 
formerly a Surgeon's Mate in the Navy, I have the honor to state for 
the information of the Naval Committee of the House, that the name 
of Joseph G. Roberts does not appear on the prize list for Lake Erie, 
of course no allotment of prize money was granted to him, it is not 
known why he was not included in the Estimate, but have understood 
that he was in the Town of Erie at the time of the action employed 
in a Hospital kept at that place, it is probable he never served in the 
fleet. 


It further appears that he resigned his Commission on the 30th 
May, 1815, in preference to awaiting the is^ue of a Court Martial, as 
the enclosed copies will shew. Samuel Hambleton, a Purser in the 
Navy who fought and was wounded in the action, was appointed 
prize agent by Captain Perry his officers and crews. Mr. Hamble¬ 
ton received the amount awarded by Congress by act of 18 April 
1814, and has faithfully distributed it, the arrangements of distribu¬ 
tion in classes having been previously approved and sanctioned by 
the Secretary of the Navy. Mr. Hambleton is now absent in the 
frigate Congress. 

I have the honor to be, 

Very respectfully, 

Your Obedt. Serv't, 


Smith Thompson. 


Hon ble Tim° Fuller, 

Chairman, Naval Committee 

House Representatives. 


(Copy.) 

Erie, 19th May, 1815. 

Sir, 

Your letter relating to the Court Martial on Doct. Joseph G. 
Roberts, came to hand by the last mail. There are not officers 
enough on the station to form a court as you have directed; and as 
the evidence necessary to attend his trial, in case he was ordered to 
New York for that purpose, could not be procured there without 
vast expense, trouble and inconvenience, and in case the Mediter¬ 
ranean Squadron have sailed, could not be procured at all, in which 
event he might escape punishment, I have thought it most advisable 
to enclose you his commission which he has tendered me; believing 
it will be the easiest, most certain, and least expensive mode of ridding 
the service of an unworthy and useless Officer; one whose rank, if 
retained in service, might place him in a situation to do serious 
mischief. It would have been more desirable, for example sake, that 
he could be punished by a Court Martial, and but for the difficulties 
before mentioned I would not have forwarded his resignation for your 
acceptance, while he was under arrest. 

I have the honor to be, &c. 

(Signed.) A. Sinclair. 

Hon. B. W. Crowninshied, 

Secretary of the Nav^, 

Washington. 



122 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[17th Congress, 


Made January 30, 1823. 

Read, and ordered to lie on the table. 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which, on the 20th of January, 
was referred a Message from the President of the United States, with 
a communication from the Navy Department, in 
fortifyingThommon^s regard to . an appropriation for the purpose of erecting 
island, or Key west, fortifications on I hompson s Island, formerly called 
Key West, and the advantages which might result to 
the commerce of the United States, from such fortifications, 


report: 

That from the documents referred to them, as well as from other 
information, upon which they can rely, they have no doubt that 
Thompson’s Island, from its peculiar situation, may become important 
in connexion with the Commercial interest of the United States—But 
as they have no information to direct them to a satisfactory conclu¬ 
sion, as to the expediency, or even the practicability of erecting 
fortifications upon this Island, and as measures have been adopted, 
and are now in operation, under the direction of the Navy Depart¬ 
ment, to obtain further information which will enable Congress, at 
some future time, to legislate more understandingly upon this subject, 
they recommend the adoption of the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the Committee on Naval Affairs be discharged from 
a further consideration of this subject. 


Made February 3d, 1823. 

Accompanied by a Bill which was twice read & committed 
(No. 78.) 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was committed a report 
of the Commissioners of Naval Hospitals, made on the 9th of January 
last, respectfully 

report: 

By an act of Congress, passed on the 26th of Feby, 1811, a deduction 
of twenty cents a month, from the pay of the officers and seamen of 
TTnsnitai, the Na 'vy of the United States, and of the Marines, for 

the purpose of erecting Naval Hospitals; and, by the 
report of the Commissioners before mentioned, and their report on 
the 21st December, 1821, it appears that, of the whole amount of 
the deductions made in pursuance of that act, being $168,946.57, 
only $43,335.87 has been placed at the disposal of the Commissioners, 
for the purposes provided by the act, and that the balance of the 
amount first mentioned, being one hundred and twenty five thousand 
six hundred and ten dollars and seventy cents, has been absorbed in 
the pay of the Navy, and has consequently never been placed Rt the 
disposal of the Commissioners. 

As the contributions of the officers and seamen, and of the Marines, 
by virtue of the act beforementioned, have been regularly made, and 
have been employed by the government in so far reducing the annual 



2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


123 


appropriations, justice seems to require that the balance, so absorbed, 
should be reimbursed, and that the purposes of its original destination 
should be no longer frustrated or delayed. 

It appears, by the Commissioners’ report, that they are taking the 
necessary measures to erect Navy Hospitals, as the act provides, and 
that the funds arising from the contributions, before stated, are indis¬ 
pensably necessary, and are deemed sufficient to accomplish the 
object. The Committee, therefore, report a bill for that purpose. 


Made February 4, 1823. 

Read and agreed to. 

Amendment reported by the Committee on Naval Affairs, on the 
Sami f Hooker Bill from the Senate for the relief of Samuel F. 
Hooker. 

Third line, 1. section. Strike out the following words: 

“Upon such terms as may appear to him equitable and just;” 
and in place thereof insert, “Upon such principles as are applicable 
in cases of contracts.” 


Made February 5, 1823. 

Read, and ordered to lie on the table. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was committed the 
Thomas Kem petition of Thomas Kemp, together with the report 
omas emp. ma j e by the same Committee at the last session 
thereon, respectfully 

report: 

That no further evidence has been offered to support the claim of 
the petitioner, and no view has been presented to the Committee, 
which tends in any degree to change the opinion expressed in the 
former report. They therefore propose for adoption the following 
resolution: 

Resolved , That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 


Made February 12, 1823. 
To lie on the table. 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of John Kilby, 


report: 


The petitioner states, that from the 6th day of August, 1776, to the 
22d day July, 1799, he was employed as a seaman on board of various 
" private armed ships of the United States, or confined in 
England, as a prisoner of War; that on the 9th day of 
August, 1799, at La Orient in France, he enlisted in the service of the 
United States, as a seaman, on board the squadron commanded by 





124 


REPOETS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[17th Congress, 


Paul Jones, and received twenty French crowns, as entrance money; 
that he was on board this squadron, when many rich prizes were 
captured; and during the memorable engagement, which terminated 
in the capture of the British ship of War Serapis and Countess of 
Scarborough, afterwards sold at La Orient, by an American Agent, 
as prize of War; that Capt. Jones, at this place, promised the crew 
their prize money before they sailed again, but afterwards the peti¬ 
tioner sailed to Boston, under Capt. Landais, where he was discharged 
without wages or prize money, neither of which has he since received. 

The petitioner further states, that he is sixty four years of age; that 
he is very poor, and is a pensioner under the act of March 18, 1818, 
and prays Congress to grant him the amount of his prize money and 
his wages, in addition to his pension. 

No evidence has been exhibited in support of this claim, not even 
the service of the petitioner, except what results from the fact, that 
he is a revolutionary pensioner, which fact, in the opinion of the 
Committee, does not in any manner affect the claim. 

From some circumstances, the Committee are induced to believe 
that the petitioner has presented this claim, from a presumption that 
it is analagous to the claim of Peter Landais, who received four 
thousand dollars from the Treasury of the United States, by an act 
of Congress, passed March 28th, 1806, on account of his claim to 
prize money, which might accrue from certain captures made and 
carried into Bergen, in the year 1779, to be deducted from his propor¬ 
tion of the money that might be obtained of the Danish Government, 
on account of such captures; but as the Government of the United 
States, after repeated negotiations on the subject, has never received 
any thing on this account, the Committee are of opinion, that the 
petitioner’s claim is not strengthened by this circumstance, and there¬ 
fore submit the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 


Made February 12, 1823. 

Read, and referred to the Committee of the Whole House, to which 
is committed the Bill making appropriations for the support of the 
Navy of the United States for the year 1823. 

(No. 89.) 

The Committee on Naval Affairs to whom was committed a Message 
from the President of the United States upon the sub- 
inciined e piane way or j ect ^ ie Marine railway or inclined plane, 

REPORT: 

That they have given due attention to the documents accompanying 
the Message of the President, and have also examined the model of a 
Dock, proposed to be constructed in connexion with the inclined plane 
already constructed at the Navy Yard in the City of Washington; 
and they are of opinion, that the plan proposed is well adapted to the 
object of building, repairing, and preserving the publick vessels, and 



2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


125 


that an appropriation ought to be made for the purpose of carrying 
into effect the plan proposed and completing the rail-way and dock at 
the Navy Yard aforesaid, for which purpose they recommend the 
following resolution: 

Resolved, That the sum of fifty thousand dollars ought to be appro¬ 
priated for the purpose of constructing a dock and wharves for 
building, repairing, and constructing vessels of the United States, at 
the Navy Y ard in the City of Washington. 


Made February 17, 1823. 

Read, and ordered to lie on the table. 

(No. 92.) 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was committed a reso¬ 
lution respecting the equal selection of Midshipmen for the Navy from 
the different states, respectfully 


report: 

By the second section of the second article of the Constitution of the 
United States, the President is vested with power, by and with the 
selection of Mid- a dvice and consent of the Senate, to nominate and 
S ere P nt states 11 the dif * a PP°^ n ^ officers, whose jmpointment is not other¬ 
wise provided for by the Constitution; thus giving 
him the exercise of Ins discretion without any limitation as to place 
of birth or residence in such appointments. This latitude in selecting 
persons of suitable character and qualifications, must have been 
deemed indispensable to enable the Executive power to fulfil the high 
trust of providing for the “faithful execution” of the laws, and at the 
same time involves a responsibility, which would have been con¬ 
siderably diminished by such a restriction, as is suggested by the 
resolution. In appointing officers in the civil department for the 
performance of duties, which are local in their nature, the Committee 
believe that a regard to the circumstance of residence, and of the 
political and individual relations of the person selected, must fre¬ 
quently be among the considerations most important to a just 
decision. Nor is there any reason to doubt that a due regard to this 
consideration, in accordance with local predilections, and the spirit 
and genius of a free people, has guided the Executive of the United 
States as far hitherto, as the public k good requires. 

In the Army and the Navy, less scope is afforded to the Executive 
in filling the higher grades of service; as long established usage limits 
the selection of suitable persons to an inconsiderable number, whose 
education and probationary character are deemed to render them the 
only subjects of such selection. It is only in the appointments to the 
lowest grades, from which, at a future day, the highest ranks of the 
Military and Naval Corps are to be filled, that the utmost latitude is 
afforded to the President for consulting the future interests of the 
Country, by enrolling in her defence an adequate number of brave, 
intelligent, patriotic, and virtuous officers; and the Committee are of 



126 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[17th Congress, 


opinion, that any restriction by law, even if permitted by the Con¬ 
stitution, would be highly pernicious in its operation, and might often 
result in the appointment of persons incompetent and unsuitable. 

In regard to the appointment of Midshipmen, the particular subject 
of the present enquiry, it appears by the letter of the Secretary of the 
Navy Department, accompanying this report, that a disposition 
sufficiently favorable to a general and fair participation of naval 
preferment has constantly pervaded that Department; and has been 
no otherwise counteracted than was unavoidable from circumstances 
beyond its control. 

The Committee fully concur in the propriety and policy of enrolling 
in the Naval service, the meritorious young men of the interior states, 
whenever they manifest a solicitude to enter it; and they are per¬ 
suaded that such a disposition on their part has always been encour¬ 
aged, and will continue to be so, as far as a due regard to the Con¬ 
stitutional discretion and responsibility of the Executive will permit. 
They therefore recommend the following resolution: 

Resolved, That any provision by law, restraining the Executive of 
the United States, in the selection of Midshipmen, is inexpedient. 


Navy Department, 

25 January, 1823. 

Sir, 

In answer to the inquiry in your letter of the 21st instant, whether 
any general rules are adopted in the Department, by which the 
selection of midshipmen is made r particularly as relates to their 
residence, I have the honor to state, that the general rule by which I 
have been governed in this respect, is, to apportion them among the 
several States, according to the ratio of representation in Congress, 
when the applicants were unexceptionable as to character, and 
qualifications for the service. The disproportion, however, was so 
great, that I have not as yet been able to bring about an apportion¬ 
ment among the several States, according to the rule alluded to. 
But as in all new appointments, due regard is had to the principle, 
the object will, before long, be effected. Whether it would be expe¬ 
dient to adopt by law this rule, leaving no discretion on the subject 
to the Department, may well be questioned. Although the appli¬ 
cants in the aggregate are very numerous, yet there are some States 
from which there are but few; and if the Department should be bound 
by law to conform in all cases to this rule, the selection might not 
always be of the most deserving, and best qualified. 

I have the honor to be, 

Very respectfully, Sir, 

Your obedient servant, 


Smith Thompson. 


Hon. Timothy Fuller, 

Chairman Naval Committee, 

House of Representatives. 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


127 


Made February 24, 1823. 

Read, and with the bill, to lie. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred a com¬ 
munication from the Secretary of the Navy Department, recom¬ 
mending the passage of an act to authorize the 
Powder ase Magazines purchase of two magazines near the Navy Yard at 
near Brooklyn, n. y. Brooklyn, in the State of New York, respectfully 

report: 

The magazines in question belonging to Capt. Isaac Chauncey, 
have been occupied for more than ten years by the Government, for 
which they have paid rent; and the Committee are duly informed that 
it would not be expedient to erect magazines on the publick ground 
within the Navy Yard. The Government must, therefore, continue 
to pay rent for the storage of powder in these magazines, or must 
purchase land and build others, unless these are procured. Under 
these circumstances it is deemed prudent to authorize the purchase 
of these magazines, and a sufficient quantity of land connected with 
them and with the Navy Yard, provided they can be obtained for a 
reasonable consideration. They therefore report a bill for that 
purpose. 


Made February 24, 1823. 

Leave to withdraw. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was committed the 
Petition of Ann Hodge, 

report: 

The petitioner represents that her husband George Hodge was a 
Ann Hodge boatswain in the service of the United States more than 
nn o(„e. ^ wen £y y ears> an( i that he has j a t e ly died leaving her in 
indigence, and she prays for a pension for her support. 

The Committee perceive nothing in the case of the petitioner that 
can distinguish it from that of all persons who are connected with 
those engaged in publick service, and who are left by them at their 
decease in destitute circumstances; humanity would be gratified to 
administer relief, but the duty of the Legislature forbids recourse to 
the publick treasure for that purpose. They therefore propose the 
following resolution: 

Resolved , That the petitioner have leave to withdraw her petition. 


(No. 98.) 

Made February 24, 1823. 

Read, and ordered to lie on the Table. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom were referred certain 
resolutions of the State of Alabama, requesting their representative 




128 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. [17th Cong., 2d Sess.] 


to procure the passage of a law laying tonnage in the ports of Mobile 
and Blakely, 

report: 

No information has been laid before the Committee, tending to 
show any necessity for the tonnage proposed. In the instances of 
Charleston and Savannah mentioned in the resolu- 
nage (kajGn the ports tions, the respective States in which those places are 
\y A*ia ile and Blake ’ situated, passed acts laying a tonnage in the particular 
ports in question for specifick purposes, and to be 
valid when the consent of Congress should be received; which consent 
was afterwards given on certain conditions, relating to the application 
of the sums collected by virtue of the authority so granted. It is not 
stated that any such act has been adopted in Alabama, and whenever 
such an act may be adopted and presented to Congress, it will be 
necessary to show clearly that circumstances exist of such a nature, 
as to warrant a departure by the national government from the wise 
and safe system of collecting the revenue by its own officers and under 
its own laws. The letter of the Constitution has been supposed to 
authorize the measure requested, and the Committee are not prepared 
to controvert the position, though it is difficult to reconcile such a 
construction with the equality of publick burdens and publick 
benefits, which alone comports with its general tenor. As the appli¬ 
cation is not presented in such a form as the Committee ccfnsider 
necessary and agreeable to the precedents adverted to, they recom¬ 
mend the following resolution: 

Resolved , That the application of the State of Alabama be post¬ 
poned indefinitely. 


Made March 1 , 1823 . 

Read, and the resolution therein contained, concurred by the House. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred a resolu- 
Eibert, (Mrs.) tion in behalf of the widow of Lieut. Elbert, late of 
Lieut W Ei 0 bert the late Navy of the United States, 


REPORT: 

It appears that Mrs. Elbert has already been admitted upon the 
pension list, by virtue of the existing provisions of law, and the 
Committee are of , opinion that it is reasonable to continue the act 
upon the subject, by which she will obtain, with others in like cir¬ 
cumstances, a continuance of the pension she now enjoys; they 
therefore recommend the following resolution: 

Resolved , That it is inexpedient to provide by law for the case of 
Mrs. Elbert, except by a general act comprehending all in similar 
circumstances. 



18 th CONGRESS, 1 st SESSION. 


In the House of Representatives 

of the United States, 

December 3, 1823. 

A Committee on Naval Affairs was appointed, pursuant to the 
standing rules and orders of the House, consisting of 


Mr. Crowninshield, Chairman. 
Mr. Fuller, 

Mr. Randolph, 

Mr. Warfield, 

Mr. Cady, 

Air. Holcombe, & 

Mr. Harvey. 


Members. 


Made December 19, 1823. 

Read, and, with the bill, committed to a Committee of the whole 
House tomorrow. 


No. 5. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was committed the 
petition of Julia Lawrence, widow of James Lawrence, late a Captain 

Julia Lawrence in the Nav y of the United States, praying for a con- 
tinuance of her pension, 

report: 

The pensions allowed by law to the widows and orphan children of 
officers, seamen, and marines, who were killed, or died of wounds 
received in battle in the naval service during the late war, were 
originally limited to five years; by a subsequent act, passed the 3d 
of March, 1819, they were extended for five years more. The fund 
provided by law for the payment of these pensions, being invested 
in public stocks, and otherwise profitably disposed of, has been more 
than sufficient, for several years past, to accomplish that object 
without any encroachment on the principal, as appears by the report 
of the Commissioners, made to Congress at the last session; and there 
is reason to expect that, while the fund is increasing, the number 
of pensioners will annually diminish. The Committee, therefore, 
believe that there is no occasion to discriminate, even if any ground 
of discrimination exists, between the case of the petitioner, and that 
of others comprehended under existing laws; and they respectfully 
report a bill extending the period of their pensions for the further 
term of five years. 

39889—10-9 


129 





130 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[18th Congress, 


Made December 19, 1823. 

Read, and, with the bill, committed to a Committee of the whole 
House tomorrow. 

No. 6. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, who, by a resolution of this 
House, passed on the 9th instant, were instructed to inquire into the 
„ , r , expediency of granting pensions to Lydia Allen and 

ene ope enny . p ene i 0 p e Denny, beg leave respectfully to 

report: 

That they have duly considered the case of Penelope Denny, and 
have reported a bill for her relief. That a bill was reported in her 
favor at the last session of Congress, and they respectfully refer to 
the *report made by the Committee on the 13th January, 1823, 
accompanying the said bill. All which is respectfully submitted. 


Made January 20, 1824. 

Read, and, with the bill, committed to a Committee of the whole 
House tomorrow. 

No. 33. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was committed the 
Resolution of the House of Representatives, of the 15th of December, 
directing an inquiry into the expediency of author- 
sioops of war. izing the construction of ten additional sloops of 
war, respectfully 

report: 

That, by a letter from the Secretary of the Navy, dated January 
7, 1824, to your Committee, it appears there are, at this time, in the 
Navy of the United States, but four sloops of war, and no more are 
authorized to be built; while the laws provide for twelve ships of the 
line, twelve frigates of the largest class, and three of the second. 
The disproportion, therefore, between the number of sloops and the 
number of larger vessels is very great, and must be productive of 
inconvenience when all are to be employed in active service; and 
when, too, that class of vessels must become very useful when 
employed singly or in fleets. 

Your Committee are further of opinion, that sloops of war can, in 
time of peace, be employed for all the ordinary purposes for which 
vessels of war are wanted, with more expedition in fitting them for 


*For report referred to, see page 139 [of original manuscript; page 113 of printed 

record]. 




1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


131 


sea, at a much less expense, and would often supersede the necessity 
of the employment of the larger vessels of war; so that, on the score 
of economy, they seem to be required. 

They are useful, as your Committee do believe, in another respect; 
some such vessels are required, and the want thereof much felt, as 
they seem to be the proper command for Masters Commandant, and 
the command of which will give them that skill and knowledge, which 
are absolutely necessary they should have before they can be fully 
competent to command ships of the largest class, and the want of 
which, at some future day, may be sensibly felt by the nation. 

Your Committee also find, by estimates from the Navy com¬ 
missioners to the Secretary of the Navy, dated 23d December, 1823, 
that the 'expense of constructing, together with the cost of all the 
materials, of all descriptions, for a sloop of war of the largest class, 
will amount to eighty-five thousand dollars; and the expense of 
officering, manning, and victualling the same, for employment, will 
amount to sixty-one thousand two hundred dollars per annum. 

Your Committee, therefore, seeing the importance of these sloops 
of war, do most respectfully and earnestly recommend the building 
of ten additional sloops of war, to be forthwith commenced; and 
the } 7 beg leave to report a bill accordingly. 


Made February 17, 1824. 

Read, and, with the bill, committed to a Committee of the whole 

House tomorrow. 


No. 65. 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of Jonas Duncan, 

report : 

The petitioner states, that, in 1812, he was the owner of a house, 
in the borough of Erie, in the State of Pennsylvania, which, without 
his consent, was taken possession of by the officers of the Navy of the 
United States, and kept in their use until the year 
1816, when it was burnt; that he has received no 
compensation for the loss of said house, or rent for the same, and 
prays a reasonable remuneration for the use of his property, and for 
the loss of it. It appears to the Committee, from the deposition of 
Daniel Dobbins, a sailing master, that, in November, 1812, he took 
possession of the said house, and used it in storing the United 
States’ iron in it, while building gun boats; that it was subsequently 
used as a block-maker’s shop, until the summer of 1814, when it was 
accidently burnt. John Hay and Peter Grawoss unite in deposing 
that the said house was worth one hundred dollars, and the rent was 
worth thirty five dollars a year. It will appear by a letter from 
Charles Hay, Chief Clerk in the Navy Department, and accompanying 




132 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[18th Congress, 


this report, that no payment has been made to the said Duncan for 
said House. The Committee are of opinion that a reasonable rent 
ought to be paid to the said Jonas Duncan for the time the Govern¬ 
ment had possession of the house, and lor that purpose have prepared 
a bill, which they ask leave to present. 


Navy Department, 

7th February, 1824. 


In returning to you the papers which you left with me yesterday, 
I have the honor to state, that I referred them to the 4tli Auditor of 
the Treasury, who states “that the name of Jonas Duncan does not 
appear in the accounts of Mr. Hambleton or Mr. Salomon; the dis¬ 
bursing officers at Erie, in 1812, 1813, 1814, and part of 1815, but that 
a person, named James Duncan, was paid for house rent.” 

I have caused the correspondence of Captains Perry and Sinclair, 
during the period above mentioned, to be carefully examined, and can 
find nothing touching the subject. 

With great respect, 

I am, Sir, your obedient servant 

Charles Hay, Chief Cleric. 


Hon. John W. Cady, 

In Congress. 


Made February 23, 1824. 

Read: Ordered to lie upon the table. 

No. 68. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was recommitted a bill 
entitled “A bill for the relief of Sarah Perry, mother 
Mrs. Sarah Perry. 0 f £] ie late Oliver H. Perry, respectfully 

REPORT: 

Though this bill was recommitted without any definite instructions, 
yet, from the objections which were made to its original character, 
and the efforts to change it, by making the relief of Mrs. Perry a 
charge upon the Navy Pension Fund, the Committee are led to con¬ 
sider the nature and expediency of the change proposed. 

However strong may be the disposition of the Committee to afford 
to the mother of the illustrious Perry the same tokens of regard which 
have been accorded to his widow and children, it is incumbent on 
them to abstain from any encroachment upon the fund in question, 
provided it shall appear, that the faith of the Government is pledged 
to protect this fund, as a consecrated deposite for the support and 
encouragement of another and different class of persons. 

By the act of the 23d of April, 1800, Sec. 5, it is provided, that the 
proceeds of all prizes taken by the public armed ships of the United 
States, when of inferior force, shall be adjudged, one half to the cap- 




1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


133 


tors, and the other half to the United States. By the 8th Sec. of the 
same act it is provided, that all oliicers, seamen, and marines, dis¬ 
abled in service, shall receive a pension during life, or the continuance 
of disability; and by the next section it is enacted, that all moneys 
which may accrue to the United States from prizes “shall be, and 
remain forever,” a fund for the payment of pensions to those officers, 
seamen, and marines, who may be entitled to receive the same; and 
if the fund should be insufficient, the public faith is pledged to supply 
the deficiency; and should there be a surplus, it shall be applied to 
making further provision for the beforementioned persons, and “for 
such as may merit, by their bravery and long and faithful services, 
the gratitude of their country.” 

Early in the late war with Great Britain, and before the Navy 
Pension Fund had in any considerable degree accumulated under these 
provisions of law, an act was passed extending its benefits to the 
widows and orphan children of such officers, seamen, and marines, 
as might fall in battle or die of wounds, limiting their pensions to the 
term of five years. The wisdom and policy of this extension are 
very manifest; and it was no violation of the sections of the act 
before recited, as far as it applied to any future or prospective acquisi¬ 
tions from prizes. Tfie present fund has arisen from captures made 
almost exclusively since the extension, and it remains pledged to the 
purposes of the original law, with no other addition. 

Should justice, or policy, require that any other relatives of seamen 
be relieved at the public expense, the Committee are of opinion that 
the public faith does not permit it to be done from the acquisition of 
the present fund; but, they have no doubt of the right of Congress 
to provide by law that the proceeds of prizes, which may be hereafter 
captured, may be applied to new objects of public bounty.' But, 
while so many officers, seamen, and marines remain, who may require 
relief, or who may be entitled, by “their bravery and faithful serv¬ 
ices,” to the benefits of the fund, and who, if it were exhausted, 
might seek in vain a fulfilment of their country’s pledge, it is deemed 
no less unjust than impolitic to assail this sacred deposite—the fruit 
of valor and of victory—the balm of honorable wounds, and the con¬ 
solation of bereaved widowhood and helpless infancy. 

The Committee are of opinion, that the bill ought to pass in its 
original form; and they have, accordingly, restored the enacting 
clause, and report it to the House with no other amendment or 
variation. 


Made December 30, 1823. 

Petition referred to the Commissioners of the Navy Pension Fund. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was committed the 
petition of Harriot Carter, praying the allowance of 
Harriot carter. a pension, respectfully 

report: 

The petitioner states that she is the widow of Nathaniel Carter, late 
a Lieutenant in the Navy of the United States, and that he died during 



134 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[18th Congress, 


the past autumn of the yellow fever contracted at Thompson’s Island, 
and in the line of his duty. The Committee are of opinion that the 
petitioner is entitled to be placed as a pensioner upon the Navy Pen¬ 
sion fund, under the laws now in existence upon that subject. The 
Committee however having understood that a difference of opinion 
upon the construction of those provisions of law exist, and that the 
Commissioners have one or more cases of the same nature pending 
before them, they are of opinion, that the case of the present peti- 
tioner ought to be considered by them, in connexion with the others. 

They therefore offer the following resolution: 

Resolved , That the Committee on Naval Affairs be discharged from 
the further consideration of the petition of Harriot Carter, and that 
it be referred to the Commissioners of the Navy Pension Fund. 


Made March 24, 1824. 

Read, and concurred in. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Edward Barry, respectfully 


report : 

The petitioner was a Sailing Master in the U. S. Navy during the 
late war with Great Britain, and at the time the enemy were marching 
to Washington, the Secretary of the Navy, to prevent 
Edward Barry, the Naval stores at the Navy Yard from falling into 
the hands of the British Army, on the 24th of August, 
1814, ordered the Commandant to cause them to be destroyed, 
which was accordingly done. The petitioner had his quarters with 
his family in the yard or neighborhood, and had ample time & oppor¬ 
tunity to have removed his furniture & other property to a place of 
safety, had he been permitted so to do, but the Commandant required 
his services in destroying the public stores & for other purposes which 
prevented him from saving his little all; and he now asks indemnity 
from the Government. 

It is well established that persons engaged in the public service of 
the army or navy owe their time and exertions to the performance of 
their respective duties, and when their private concerns suffer in 
consequence of their performance of their duty to the public, it is a 
sacrifice incidental to their vocation; nor is the Government bound 
to indemnify them against such sacrifices, except by their legal & 
stipulated compensation. 

The circumstance of the residence of the petitioner’s family near 
the scene of his active duties, can not make his case different from 
what it would have been had his property been destroyed in a distant 
part of the country by an incursion of the enemy, in which case he 
probably would not have supposed himself entitled to compensation 
any more than other citizens whose property might have been 



REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


1st Session.] 


135 


destroyed by such an incursion. The Committee therefore recom¬ 
mend the following resolution: 

Resolved , That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition 
& papers. 


Made April 22, 1824. 

Read, and the resolution therein contained, concurred in by the 

House. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred {he petition 
of Mary Ann Springer, respectfully 

report: 

The petitioner is the widow of Lieut Charles L. Springer of the 
U. S. Navy, who died of the yellow fever, in the service of his country, 
in 1820; and her circumstances with those of her 

ary infant children, deserve commiseration; there is 

reason to believe, however, that she is entitled to relief under the laws 
providing for the widows & orphan children of persons dying in the 
naval service, of “disease contracted” while in such service, which 
laws, tho’ recently repealed in their future operation, have not 
deprived the petitioner or others in her situation of the benefit of 
provisions before existing, which, it is presumed, will be found 
adequate in the present case. 

The Committee are not prepared to recommend any extension of 
the provisions contained in those laws, and even should not the 
petitioner bring her case within them before the Department, they 
could not report in favor of her petition. They therefore propose the 
following resolution : 

Resolved , That the petitioner have leave to withdraw her petition. 


Made January 12, 1824. 


Read, and ordered to lie upon the table. 


The Committee of Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of James Bell, 


report: 


That the petitioner states that he was one of the prisoners who was 
wounded wliile confined in Dartmoor prison; that he did not know 
of the passage of the law allowing pensions to those 
who were wounded there, until the last summer ; that 
he then applied to the Secretary of the Navy, who, on the 25th of 
August last, placed his name on the pension list. He now prays that 
a law may be passed allowing him full pay from the passage of the 




136 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[18th Congress, 


aforesaid act. The Committee are not apprized of any special 
circumstances attending the case of the petitioner which renders it 
expedient or proper to grant the prayer of the petitioner. They 
therefore recommend the passage of the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 


Made January 27, 1824. 

Read, and ordered to lie on the table. 

The Committee of Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of Catharine Grubb, 

report : 

The petitioner states that she is the widow of James Fullerton, 
deceased; that he was a Carpenter invited to attend the launch of 
the Ship Franklin where he was accidently killed, 

at arme «ru ). j eaY j n g p er w ith three children under sixteen years 
of age, and without property; and she prays Congress for relief. 
The petitioner produces no evidence in support of her claim; but if 
every thing stated in the petition were received as true, the Committee 
are not apprized of any precedent or principle which would authorize 
relief in this case. They therefore recommend the adoption of the 
following resolution: 

Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 


Made January 28, 1824. 

Read, and ordered to lie upon the table. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was committed the 
•etition of Anthony Gale, late Commander of the Marine Corps of the 
Jnited States, respectfully 

REPORT: 


Said Gale represents, that, in the year 1820, he was tried for certain 
alleged misconduct in his official capacity, he being at the time in a 
Anthon Gale state of mental derangement, before a Court Martial, 
and, being convicted of the charges alleged against 
him, was deprived of his commission, and is consequently reduced 
to a state of extreme poverty, with a wife and numerous family 
dependent upon him for support. 

The Committee have no reason to doubt that the petitioner had a 
fair trial, and if actually insane at the time of the trial, or at the time ♦ 
the offences were alleged to have been committed, it would have been 




1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


137 


a sufficient ground for consideration, probably for his acquittal by 
the Court. The poverty of the petitioner under such circumstances 
furnishes no ground, in the opinion of the Committee, for the interpo¬ 
sition of Congress in his behalf. They therefore recommend the fol¬ 
lowing resolution: 

Resolved, That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition. 


Made February 3, 1824. 

Read, and ordered to lie upon the table. 

The Committee of Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of Catharine Young, 

report: 

The petitioner states that she is the mother of John Young, late 
a Surgeon in the Navy, who lost his life by casualty on board the 
Catharine Youne Sloo P of War Peacock, on the 4th of July, 1816, at 
Havre de Grace in France; that during the life of her 
son she was supported by him from a part of his pay especially 
appropriated for that purpose; that she is now old and wholly destitute 
of the means of support, and prays Congress to place her name on the 
list of Navy Pensioners. 

The Committee are not apprized of any precedent or principle 
which would justify Congress in granting the prayer of the petitioner. 
They therefore report the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the pra}~er of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 


Made February 25, 1824. 

Read, and ordered to lie upon the table. 

The Committee of Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of Catharine Reed, 

report: 


The petitioner states that she is the widow of the late Lieutenant 
Benjamin Franklin Reed, who entered the Naval service of the 
United States in the year 1799, and continued therein 
larine ee till the 26th of January, 1812, when he died; that the 
death of the said Lieutenant Reed was in consequence of a painful 
disease, contracted by long and continued exposure during a tem¬ 
pestuous cruise from New York to New Orleans, in the United States’ 
Brig Enterprize a short time previous to his death; that she has one 
child, is poor, and, with great confidence in the meritorious services 
of her late husband, appeals to Congress for relief. 




138 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[18th Congress. 


The petitioner produces ample evidence to show that the services 
of Lieutenant Reed, were highly honorable to himself, and useful to 
his country; and to substantiate all the material facts set forth in her 
petition. 

But as Congress has so recently decided against the principle of 
granting pensions, in cases similar to the one embraced in this petition, 
by repealing the law of March 3 d , 1817, the Committee are induced to 
report unfavorably to the prayer of the petitioner, and submit the 
following resolution. 

Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 


Made March 17, 1824. 

Read, & ordered to lie upon the table. 


The Committee of Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of Sarah Drew, 


report: 


The petitioner states that she is the widow of John Drew, deceased, 
late a Sailing Master in the Navy; that she has been left in indigent 
Sarah Drew circumstances with three children and an aged mother 

of the deceased, dependent on her for support, and 
prays Congress for an allowance from the Navy Pension Fund. 

The Committee are of opinion, that an allowance in this case would 
be a departure from every principle which has been adopted by 
Congress in regard to the application of that fund. They therefore 
submit the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the petitioner have leave to withdraw her petition 


Made March 29, 1824. 

Read, & ordered to lie upon the table. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Sarah O’Connor, respectfully 

report: 

The petitioner is the widow of Nicholas O’Connor, late a Sailing 
Master in the service of the United States, and she represents that her 
Sarah O’Connor saicl husband received an injury in his leg while in 
actual service, which obliged him to leave the Navy, 
and that after several years, confinement he died in consequence of 
the injury so received, leaving her with six young children destitute 
of means for their support, and she prays relief. 




1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


139 


The Committee presume, tho’ not stated in the petition, that 
Nicholas O’Connor, if entitled to a pension in consequence of the 
wound or injury mentioned, was placed on the list of pensioners 
during his life, and having left the public service, his family are not 
entitled by law to receive relief from the pension fund; and however 
suitable their case may be for the exercise of private beneficence, 
the Committee are obliged by uniform practice in such cases to 
recommend a rejection of the petition. They therefore propose the 
following resolution: 

Resolved; That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 


Made April 21, 1824. 

Read, and ordered to lie upon the table. 

The Committee of Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of Enoch Hidden, 


report: 

The petitioner states, that, in the year 1819 he was employed by 
Commodore Rodgers to make a Magazine Cannon Lock, which, after 
several alterations, was approved by the Commis- 

noc i k (en. s i oners 0 f the Navy Board; that Commodore Decatur, 
then one of the Commissioners, informed the petitioner that there 
would be wanted for the use of the Navy about fifteen hundred locks, 
like the specimen exhibited, at the rate of ten dollars each; that, in 
consequence of this suggestion, the petitioner furnished himself with 
tools & machinery for making such locks at an expense of about 
one thousand dollars—an expense which he should not have incurred 
without the expectation & assurance of being employed to make the 
whole number of such locks named by Commodore Decatur; that 
he has made two hundred locks, for which he has been paid ten dollars 
each; and since the death of Commodore Decatur, he has made one 
hundred & sixty locks for which he has been paid but eight dollars 
& fifty cents each, which afforded him no profit, and since the locks 
last mentioned were made, he has been informed by one of the Navy 
Commissioners that no more locks will be ordered, in consequence of 
the diminished appropriation for the increase of the Navy; That he 
made an improvement on the cap & box for elevating carronades 
which was approved & adopted by the officers of the Navy, for 
which he has received no compensation; and that he has suffered to 
the amount of two thousand dollars, which he prays may be refunded 
to him, or that he may have further employment in making locks. 

From this statement of facts, it appears that the petitioner may 
have been unfortunate, but the Committee are not able to see that 
his misfortune is more extraordinary than what frequently occurs in 
all the pursuits of human life. They therefore submit the following 
resolution: 

Resolved, That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition. 


140 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[18th Congress. 


Made May 17, 1824. 

Read & to lie. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of Richard Bland Randolph, 

report : 

The petitioner states that he entered the Naval service of the 
United States as a Midshipman on board the Insurgente, on the 
first day of May, 1800, where he continued till Sep- 
do?ph h ‘ Bland Ran tember in the same year—then being sick he was sent 
on shore where he continued till the act providing 
for a Naval Peace establishment, was passed in 1801, making in the 
whole twenty months and eighteen days—during which time he 
assisted in taking from the enemy eighteen prizes, and received 
several severe wounds; that he has never received his wages nor prize 
money, and prays Congress for remuneration. Pie further prays for 
a pension- in consequence of his wounds. 

From an examination of the evidence produced by the petitioner, 
the Committee have no doubt that he served as a Midshipman on 
board the Insurgente as he has set forth in his petition, but they are 
not satisfied that he has any just claim on the Government for wages 
or prize money, or that he is entitled to a pension. 

It appears from the records in the Navy Department, that on the 
19 th day of March last, the petitioner received seventy-six dollars for 
four months pay as the full amount for wages which then appeared 
to be due to him. 

It further appears, that the prize agency of the Insurgente was 
altogether a private transaction, and never was under the inspection 
or control of the Department. The Committee see no good reason 
why the government should be accountable even if a loss has been 
sustained in a case of this sort. 

In regard to the petitioner’s application for a pension, the Com¬ 
mittee will observe that the law makes ample provision for all cases 
of this description, and they have no information that would justify 
them in recommending more liberality in this instance than is pro¬ 
vided for every disabled soldier or seaman. They therefore submit 
the following resolution— 

Resolved , That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition 
and documents. 


Made February 24, 1824. 


Read, & ordered to lie upon the table. 


The Committee of Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of Joseph Cross, 


report : 


The petitioner states that he is a Lieutenant in the Navy, and 
Joseph cross. [>>' order ° f the Secretary of the Nayy Department, 

he was attached to the Navy Yard m Washington, 
on the third day of February, 1820, where he continued, in obedience 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


141 


to such order, till the nineteenth clay of August, 1823.—That during 
his continuance at the station, he did not receive the allowances for 
house-rent , servant hire, fuel, and candles , which have been allowed 
to officers of the same grade, at other Navy Yards in the United 
States; and prays Congress for relief. 

From an examination of the laws and regulations, in reference to 
Navy Yards, the Committee find, that by the law of the 27th of 
March, 1804, the President was authorized to attach to the Yard in 
Washington, one Captain, one other officer, with the pay of a Captain 
commanding a twenty-gun ship, with several other commissioned and 
warrant officers, but a Lieutenant is not named amongst them; and 
except this, no law has ever been passed by Congress, prescribing the 
number and grade of officers to be attached to Navy Yards. 

On the 24th of November, 1820, the Secretary of the Navy made 
an order, regulating the number and grade of officers to be perma¬ 
nently attached to the several Yards, and designating the allowances 
to be made to each. To some of the Yards, Lieutenants were 
attached, and to others they were not. The. Yard at Washington, 
was not embraced in this order, as it had already been regulated 
by law. 

In addition to the officers, stationed at the several yards, in con¬ 
formity to the law, and the order before referred to, Lieutenants have 
occasionally been attached to some of the Yards, not as permanent 
stations, but merely for tempory purposes, for which they received 
the same pay and rations as Lieutenants attached to ships. As a 
Lieutenant of this class the petitioner was attached to the Navy 
Yard at Washington, and received his pay & rations accordingly. 
From these circumstances, the Committee are of the opinion, that 
Lieutenant Cross, for any thing set forth in his petition, has no claim 
on the Government.—They, therefore, submit the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 


Made January 13, 1824. 

Read, and with the Bill committed to a committee of the whole 
House to-morrow. 

The Committee of Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of William Blagrove, 

report: 

The petitioner states that he was second clerk in the Navy Depart¬ 
ment, from the first day of January to the sixteenth day of April, 
1818; that on the twentieth day of April, 1818, his 
w Ilham Blagrove. a pp 0 j ntment \ n sa id Department was revoked by 

the Secretary of the Navy, at which time there was due to him for 
services the "sum of $413.89—That during the aforesaid (period) lie 
was employed by the Department of State to superintend the making 
of a complete list of British prisoners captured during the late war, 
which services lie rendered out of office hours, and for which he 



142 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


118th Conokess, 


received an additional compensation from the Department of State, 
in the payment of which he was over paid the sum of $350.—That 
when the mistake was discovered, which was in the same year, he 
made an order on the Navy Department for so much of his salary 
then due to him as would be sufficient to repay to the Department of 
State the said sum of $350—That he delivered said order to an agent 
in the Department of State with a full belief that it would be accepted, 
and that the business would be speedily adjusted—That he had no 
intimation to the contrary, till the year 1821, when he was required 
by the first Comptroller of the Treasury to refund said sum of three 
hundred & fifty dollars into the Treasury of the United States, and 
thereupon he delivered his demand for services in the Navy Depart¬ 
ment to the said first Comptroller of the Treasury, with an assurance 
that the business should be investigated.—That, without further 
notice, in the month of February, 1821, an action was commenced 
at the suit of the United States, to recover of the petitioner the said 
sum of three hundred and fifty dollars.—That said action came on 
for trial before his Honor William P. Van Ness, Judge of the Southern 
District of New York, in December, 1822, at which trial the peti¬ 
tioner did expect to be able to offset his demand for services in the 
Navy Department against the demand upon which the suit had been 
commenced.—That he did produce evidence to shew that this demand 
was due, but before it could be offset in this suit, he was required to 
shew, that it had been presented for allowance to the accounting 
officer of the Treasury—That he did offer to shew that it had been 
presented to the first Comptroller of the Treasury, supposing him 
to be the proper accounting officer, but this evidence was rejected 
by the Court, on the ground the first Comptroller of the Treasury 
is not the proper accounting officer of the Treasury, as required by 
the act of Congress;—Whereupon judgment was recovered against 
the petitioner, for $368.15 damages, and $71.49 costs. 

And the petitioner prays Congress to discharge him from the pay¬ 
ment of the judgment recovered in this suit, and to allow him the sum 
of sixty three dollars eighty nine cents, the balance due him for 
services in the Navy Department after deducting the said sum of 
three hundred and fifty dollars. 

The petitioner produces the deposition of the Hon. Benjamin W. 
Crowninshield, late Secretary of the Navy, in support of his claim for 
services in the Navy Department, by which it appears, that at the 
time of his dismission, a balance was due to him from the Department, 
and the Committee are fully satisfied that it was of the amount of four 
hundred twelve dollars sixty seven cents. 

And it further appears by this deposition, that the payment of this 
sum to Blagrove the petitioner, was withheld by Benjamin Homans 
who acted as money agent for the clerks in the Navy Department, 
alledging that Blagrove was indebted to him, for money loaned and 
advanced, to greater amount than the sum due to Blagrove from the 
Navy Department. 

The petitioner also produces a certificate from the Hon. William 
P. Van Ness, Judge of the Southern District in New York, by which 
it appears that at the trial of the action at the suit of the United 
States against the petitioner, the deposition of the Hon. Benjn. W. 
Crowninshield was produced to support the petitioner’s claim for 


1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


143 


services in the Navy Department, and that he was not permitted to 
off-set this demand against the claim upon which the action had been 
commenced, because, in the opinion of the Court, he could not shew 
that this demand had been presented for allowance to the proper 
accounting officer of the Treasury, as required by the act of Congress. 

^ Alter a mature consideration of the circumstances in the case, the 
Committee are of the opinion that the petitioner ought to be dis¬ 
charged from the payment of the judgment, and they therefore report 
a Bill. 


Made April 22, 1824. 

Read, and with an accompanying Bill for his relief, committed to a 
Committee of the whole House to-morrow. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Benjamin King, respectfully 

report: 

The said petitioner has been for many years head blacksmith and 
plumber in the Navy Yard on the Potomack, and in that capacity, 
Benjn King on settlement of his accounts and a statement 
thereof by the Navy Department, on the 15th of 
June, 1822, a balance was claimed as due to the United States from 
him of $1790.80.—At the same time said King claimed pay for 146 
gun locks, at $5 each, amounting to $730, to be allowed in part dis¬ 
charge of the balance above stated, which however the accounting 
officers of the Department refused to allow. 

In consequence of this disagreement, and to recover the sum 
claimed by the Government, an action was brought in the name of 
the U. States against said King, and upon a trial thereof in the 
Circuit Court of the District of Columbia, in October the same year, 
the Jury allowed the petitioner the amount of $730 for said gun locks 
as claimed by him, but they computed the interest upon the balance 
from Sept. 1812, amounting to $657.69, and added that sum of interest 
to the balance found due to the Government, upon which verdict a 
judgment was rendered & the amount has been paid or secured in 
satisfaction thereof. 

It is satisfactorily shewn to the Committee that the abovementioned 
sum of interest was not claimed by the Government, in June 1822, 
and that interest is never paid bv the Government to claimants upon 
balances due to them, and settled by the Department.—In the present 
case the delay of payment by the petitioner was occasioned in part by 
the refusal of the Department to allow his set-off for the gun locks, 
which it appears by the verdict of the Jury, ought to have been 
admitted; and partly by the destruction of "the Navy Yard by the 
enemy in 1814, by which the petitioner was for many months thrown 
out of his employment, and his salary suspended, tho 7 claimed by him, 
and, as he supposed, justly due under a law of the United States.— 



144 


REPOETS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[18th Congress, 


The Committee are therefore satisfied that it would not be equal 
and reciprocal justice for the- Government to take from an humble 
individual that interest which in like circumstances they would not 
award to him, and they have reported a bill for his relief. 


Made April 28, 1824. 

Read, and with an accompanying Bill, committed to a Committee of 
the whole House to-morrow. 

The Committee of Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of John K. Carter, 


report: 

The petitioner states that he is a Lieutenant in the Navy of the 
United States; that during the late war with Great Britain, by order 
of Commodore Chauncy, he opened a recruiting 
Rendezvous, at the City of New York, for the purpose 
of recruiting petty officers and seamen for service on the Lakes; that 
all remittances to him from the Government, were made in Treasury 
notes, which, at that time, were not current, at their nominal value; 
that to comply with his order, and to meet the exigencies of the 
public service, he was under the necessity of exchanging them, by 
which he sustained a loss of more than nine hundred dollars, and 
prays Congress that this sum may be refunded to him. Although 
several claims, in many respects similar to the one here presented, 
have been - rejected by Congress, on the ground that the Agent acted 
voluntarily, without authority, and on his own responsibility, the 
Committee are of opinion, that the peculiar circumstances connected 
with this claim entitle it to the favorable consideration of Congress. 

During the period in which this claim originated, the Naval service 
on the Lakes had become highly important, in the prosecution of the 
war, in which the country was then engaged, and this service could 
not be performed without seamen, of which there was a great defi¬ 
ciency at that time. 

On the part of the seamen, all enlistments were voluntary, and in 
order to be successful, it became absolutely necessary for the recruiting 
officer to be prepared to contract for the service of the seamen, at all 
times, when propositions were made to that effect. Any delay or 
want of preparation, on the part of the Officer, might have^ prevented 
a recurrence of such propositions, and embarrassed the public service. 
This object could not be accomplished without money, and with it, 
in no other way than at the rate prescribed by law. 

Treasury notes, at that time, were unavailing when applied to the 
purpose of recruiting, and for this reason they were exchanged. The 
Committee have not the least reason to suppose, that this exchange 
was made with any other motive than to promote the public interest; 
they are, therefore of opinion, that the petitioner ought to be indem¬ 
nified, and accordingly report a bill. 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


145 


Made April 30, 1824. 

Bill engrossed for to-morrow. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
Edward Bamard, Edward Barnard, Administrator on the estate of 
Ex. of j n . b. Fan- John B. Fanning, late a Purser in the U. S. Navy, 
nmg - respectfully 

report: 

That said John B. Fanning, as Purser of the U. S. Schooner Lynx, 
received from the Navy Agent at Charleston, South Carolina, a sum 
of money for the disbursements of said Schooner, on the 20th of June, 
1821, the day next preceding that on which she saild on a cruise, and 
that said Schooner, having never been heard of, is presumed to have 
been lost at sea with her crew, and with her stores and whatever else 
was on board. 

It is satisfactorily proved, that said Fanning, who immediately 
went over land to rejoin the Schooner at New Orleans, where she was 
ordered to rendezvous, carried very little money with him, and not 
enough to pay his personal expenses; from which it is reasonable to 
infer that the money received of the Navy Agent aforesaid, was on 
board said vessel. As the papers, books, and vouchers which might 
have shown what advances had been made to the Crew, and all other 
disbursements previous to sailing, or afterwards, by the person doing 
the duty of said purser in his absence, were also lost, it seems reason¬ 
able to make some allowance in the settlement of Fanning’s accounts 
for such disbursements, if made prior to the advance by the Navy 
Agent aforesaid; and the Committee deem it right and conformable 
to numerous precedents, especially since the unfortunate decease of 
said Fanning, who is represented, by some of the most intelligent 
officers of the Navy, as a vigilant, honest, & faithful public agent, to 
authorize a settlement of his accounts upon just and equitable prin¬ 
ciples, and they report a bill for that purpose. 


Made May 20, 1824. 

Read, and, with the Bill committed for to-morrow. 


December 22, 1824. 

Printed by order of the House of Representatives. 
N°. 3. 


The Committee of Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of William Townsend, 


report: 


From the evidence of the documents exhibited to the Committee, 
in this case, it appears that, on the 31st day of May, 1799, Solomon 
Townsend (since dead) contracted with E. and I. 
William Townsend. Watson> Xavy Agents, at New York, to make 50 tons 

of anchors for the use of the Navy of the United States. The an- 
39889—10-10 




146 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[18 th Congieess, 


chors were to be made agreeably to the order of the Navy Agent— 
were to be proved at the works, by any method in use in England, 
France, or Holland, at the expense of the Government, and then to 
be delivered at the Navy Yard, by Townsend. 

On the 23d of May, 1800, twenty-four anchors had been ordered, 
and eighteen had been delivered, in pursuance of this contract; but 
no machinery had been erected for proving the anchors, and no proof 
had been required by the Navy Agent. 

Afterwards the Navy Agent subjected some of the anchors to a 
method of proof not contemplated by the contract, and the anchors 
failed. The agent then refused to receive any more anchors, unless 
Townsend would agree that they should be tried by the same method 
of proof, to which lie did not consent. 

Betwixt this period and the 3d of June, 1807, Townsend delivered 
at the Navy Yard, New York, by permission, six anchors as follows: 
three on the 1st day of July, 1801; two on the 25th day of May, 1804; 
and one on the 3d day of June, 1807. 

All or many of the anchors were found at the Navy Yard as late as 
the year 1810; but, since the late war, none were found there. In 
the month of October, 1823, one of the six anchors was found at 
Sackett’s Harbour, in the possession of one of the agents of the Govern¬ 
ment. 

It further appears, b}" documents presented to the Committee, that 
the contract before alluded to was made by Townsend, as the agent, 
and for the benefit of Hannah Townsend, Anne Townsend, William 
Townsend, Sally Townsend, Peter Townsend, and Isaac Townsend, 
conducting business under the name of Hannah Townsend & C°.; 
and that, since the death of Hannah Townsend, all the right and inter¬ 
est of the several parties, in this concern, has been conveyed to the 
petitioner; and, from this statement of facts, the Committee are 
induced to report a bill for his relief. 

For documents accompanying this report see printed Report No. 3, 
2d Sess. 18th Congress. 


Made January 11, 1825. 

Read, and, with the bill, committed to a Committee of the whole 
House on the state of the Union. 

N°. 22. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred a resolu- 
Additionai Naval ^ on of the House of Representatives, of the 9th 
force, & other add 1 . of December, instructing them to inquire into the 
pression^of piracy. up * expediency of providing an additional Naval force, 
and other additional means for the suppression of 
piracy, respectfully 

report: 

That they have had the subjects proposed in the said resolution 
under consideration, and have made diligent inquiry into the opera¬ 
tions of our naval force, which, for the last two years, has been 
employed in the Gulf of Mexico, for the protection of our commerce 
and the suppression of piracy. In this investigation they feel a 
satisfaction in stating, that the means employed have displayed the 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


147 


vigilance of the Government, and the activity, zeal, and devotion of 
the officers and seamen who have been assigned to that perilous 
service; perilous, not from the numbers or courage of the enemy, 
but from the deleterious effects of a tropical climate upon the natives 
of a more temperate region. The vessels procured for this service 
were better adapted to a short expedition than to long and tedious 
cruizes. They were too small to afford the room necessary to pre¬ 
serve the discipline and the health of the officers and seamen assigned 
to them; vet, they enabled the commander to scour the coast, to 
penetrate into the shoal waters of the creeks, and inlets, to the very 
margin of the land; and, in effect, the pirates have literally been 
driven from the ocean, and confined to their fastnesses and haunts 
upon the land. Accordingly, their principal depredations, for the 
last twelve or fifteen months, have been confined to occasional sallies 
in boats and small craft, within one or two leagues of the shore. 

hile these depredations, however, have been more limited in extent 
and number, they have more frequently been attended with the 
most desperate and sanguinary destruction of the lives of the unfortu¬ 
nate victims. 

It becomes necessary for the Government to adapt the force to the 
existing character of the evil; and the Committee are of opinion, that 
the best species of force which can be employed in future, while the 
piracies a confined to small craft, are the boats and launches which 
are attached to larger vessels. Sloops of war of the largest class may 
be well provided with launches and boats, of which several might be 
constantly employed in ferretting out these marauders, and bringing 
them to condign punishment. 

But the Committee are of opinion, that, though the addition of 
three or four sloops to our West India squadron, might, by constant 
vigilance, afford great additional security to our commerce and those 
engaged in it, yet they have reflected that these plunderers easily 
transfer themselves from one island to another; and, when effectually 
hunted from one of their haunts, they are speedily found in parts where 
the unarmed trader, having no protection or means of defence, 
becomes an easy prey. They have, also, recurred to several instances, 
where a resolute resistance by a small crew of intrepid seamen has 
repelled the assailants, even when the disparity of force might have 
been expected to produce a different issue. From which it is manifest, 
that those wretches, who assume the vocation of pirates, are as das¬ 
tardly as they are cruel, and may be generally repelled by a well 
armed crew, though not much exceeding the usual complement of 
the vessel. 

The opinion has been expressed in some of the memorials of our 
principal cities, that the permission to the merchants to prepare a 
suitable armament for their defence, would be embraced at least to a 
sufficient extent to deter, in many instances, the attacks of boats 
from the shore, or to repel the foe in case he should attempt to carry 
by boarding. The Committee believe, that, if a considerable number 
of trading vessels should provide themselves for resistance, and a few 
instances of successful resistance should be the consequence, the effect 
would be highly salutanq and would greatly discourage these banditti, 
by rendering their vocation dangerous and fruitless. They are aware 
that the commerce of the West Indies is attended with too small 
profit to warrant any considerable increase of expense to the mer¬ 
chants and owners of vessels; and, as the protection of trade is the 


148 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[18th Congress, 


duty of the Government, as well as required for the prosperity of our 
revenue and general resources, they therefore deem it sound policy 
to rely upon this measure merely as auxiliary to the most energetic 
efforts; and to the ample means placed at the disposal of the Executive. 

The Committee have not overlooked the notorious fact, that the 
local authorities of the West India islands, particularly those of Cuba 
and Porto Rico, have afforded shelter and protection to the pirates, 
and have given a character of boldness to their enterprizes, which it 
may be impossible wholly to repress without resorting to measures 
which may induce those authorities to unite their means in earnest 
in the extirpation of these foes of the human race. Whatever may 
be the personal feelings of some of the local Governors, they may, 
perhaps, find it difficult to restrain the cupidity by which a great 
portion of the community are so completely demoralized. In the 
island of Porto Rico, a species of legalized plunder has been for several 
years tolerated, if not encouraged, by the chiefs of the island, which, 
if not so sanguinary as in other cases, has, in other respects, differed 
but little from ordinary piracy. It belongs rather to the duty of 
another Committee to devise means suitable to meet an exigency so 
singular, and, at the same time, demanding the most prompt and 
vigorous measures. 

While the utmost circumspection should be employed in maintain¬ 
ing the rights and dignity of our country, not to violate those of other 
nations, it cannot be denied, that a scrupulous adherence to the letter 
of national law, in regard to the territories under the nominal juris¬ 
diction of a nation remote from the scene of action, distracted and 
feeble at home, and scarcely felt or feared in her remote islands and 
colonies, must amount to an indefinite denial of redress to our own 
citizens; must embolden injustice and violence, and impede or frus¬ 
trate the most vigorous efforts of our naval force in the protection of 
our commerce against an unhallowed combination of local juris¬ 
diction and desperate outlaws. 

The Committee forbear to indicate the course which alone remains 
to remedy these outrages upon our rights, and our dignity, not doubt¬ 
ing that, from another source, we may soon see submitted, a plan 
which comports with our justice and moderation, as w T ell as with our 
interest and security. 

They respectfully submit a bill in conformity with these views, for 
the consideration of the House. 


Made January 17, 1825. 


Read: Ordered to lie upon the table. 


The Committee of Naval Affairs, to which was referred the Petition 
of Ann Hodge, 


report: 


That they find no evidence in the case now referred to them 
sufficient to induce them to change their opinion as expressed in their 
Ann Hodge. report on the same subject made the 24th day of Feb¬ 

ruary, 1823.—They therefore submit the following: 
Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


149 


Made January 19, 1825. 

Read: Ordered to lie upon the table. 

Ihe Committee of Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of Issabella Oliver, 


report: 


The petitioner states that she is the widow of John Oliver, deceased, 
late a Master’s Mate on board the United States’ Schooner Wild Cat, 


Isabella Oliver. 


recently lost, and prays Congress for wages due, and 
for a pension. 

In regard to a compliance with the first request of the petitioner, 
the Committee will only observe, that if wages are due to the peti¬ 
tioner for the services of her husband, she can obtain them under the 
existing law, bv applying to the proper department; and in reference 
to the second request of the petitioner, which is for a pension, the 
Committee have no evidence before them to shew the alleged service 
or death of the said John Oliver; but if the substance of the petition 
were fully proved, the Committee are of opinion, that no pension 
should be granted. At the last session of Congress the act which 
provided for cases of casualty was repealed, and if this law was 
repealed for good reasons, the same good reasons would apply to this 
case, which is the first that has arisen since the repeal of that act, 
which would have been embraced by it. The Committee submit the 
following resolution: 

Resolved, That the prayer of the petition ought not to be granted. 


Made January 20, 1825. 

Read, and laid on the table. 

The Committee of Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of Peter Roe, 


report: 

That the petitioner states that he has for many years been a sailor; 
that he has served near two years in the United States’ service; that 
Peter Roe * n 1822 he served on board of the Schooner Caduceus, 

and that while lying at St. Thomas, and in firing a 
salute, he lost his hand, and prays a pension. 

The Committee do not perceive any peculiar circumstances attend¬ 
ing this case; which, in their opinion, calls for legislative interference; 
they therefore recommend the adoption of the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition 
and documents. 



150 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[18th Congress, 


Made January 28, 1825. 

Read, and committed to a Committee of the whole House to-morrow. 

No. 46. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Johannah Montgomery, widow of Nathaniel L. Montgomery, late 
a Lieutenant Commandant in the United States’ Navy, respectfully 

report: 

Lieut. Montgomery, the petitioner’s late husband, while a midship¬ 
man on board the frigate President, in the late war, lost one of his 
arms by a cannon shot from the British frigate 
gomery 1 . 11 ^ Mont ' Belvidera, and was afterwards wounded in the 
celebrated battle on Lake Champlain, near Platts¬ 
burgh; notwithstanding which, he continued in service, and was 
promoted to a Lieutenancy for his bravery and good conduct. In 
the year 1823, while on the West India Station, under Commodore 
Porter, he had command of the Schooner Beagle, and in that situation, 
he was seized with the yellow fever, and, died in July, 1824, leaving his 
affairs embarrassed, and the petitioner destitute of support; and she 
prays to be placed upon the pension list. The Committee think it 
unnecessary to recur to the provisions of law in regard to Navy 
pensions, which have heretofore existed, further than to remark, that 
an act, passed at the last session of Congress, expressly repealed a 
preceding law, which comprehended cases similar to that of the 
petitioner, and under which, but for the repeal, she would have 
obtained relief without application to Congress. To recommend a 
restoration of the repealed act, or to make provision for the peti¬ 
tioner’s individual case, is deemed by the Committee to be incon¬ 
sistent with the policy of our government, and the principles of 
legislation. 

It is therefore the duty of the Committee, though strongly im¬ 
pressed with the bravery and merits of Lieutenant Montgomery, and 
the hardship of the case of the petitioner, to recommend the following 
resolution: 

Resolved , That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 


Made January 28, 1825. 

Read: Ordered to lie upon the table. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Francis W. C. Gamble, late a Lieut. Commandant in the Navy of 
the United States, respectfully 

report : 

The deceased Lieut. Gamble, being attached to the U. S. Squadron 
in the West Indies for the protection of commerce and the suppression 
of piracy, and in command of the U. S. Ship Decoy, 
b Francis w.c. Gam- wag attacked by a malignant fever, of which he died 
on the 17th of September last, while on his passage 
in said vessel to the United States, and the petitioner prays a pension 
equal to half the monthly pay of her deceased husband. 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


151 


The petitioner’s situation, in the essential circumstances, is similar 
to that of the widow of Lieut. Nath 1 . L. Montgomery, and the law, 
which would have afforded relief in both cases, having been repealed 
at the last session of Congress, the Committee cannot recommend a 
renewal of the repealed law in favor of the petitioner, without a 
departure from the even and impartial course marked out for the 
National legislature, however deeply they may sympathize with the 
bereaved and destitute widows and families of the brave men who 
have perished in the publick service; they therefore recommend the 
following resolution: 

Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 


Made January 28, 1825. 

Read, and, with the bill, committed to a Committee of the whole 
House to-morrow. 


N°. 43. 


The Committee of Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of David Gilmore, 


report : 


The petitioner states, that, in September, 1814, he was requested, 
by letters from Commodore Morris and Commodore Hull, to take 
David Gilmore possession of the wreck of the United States’ Ship 
Adams, then floating in the river Penobscot, and to 
save every thing of value to the United States in and about said ship. 
He was authorized to employ laborers, and was assured by Mr. Storer, 
the Navy Agent at Portland, that money should be remitted to him to 
defray all expenses; That he did employ laborers, who saved property 
to considerable amount, and received money in Treasury notes from 
the Navy Agent, but not in proper season, nor to sufficient amount to 
satisfy the laborers employed; in consequence of which the petitioner 
was sued and subjected to much trouble and cost, for which he has 
received no compensation, nor for the depreciation of Treasury notes, 
nor for interest on money advanced before any was received from the 
Navy Agent. 

In June 1815, the petitioner presented his claim to Commodore 
Morris, who was satisfied with its correctness, and directed him to 
apply to the Navy Agent at Portland for the payment of the balance 
which was then due. He did apply to the Navy Agent, and received 
the balance, supposing the whole affair to be settled; but, in February, 
1823, an action was commenced against him to recover four hundred 
dollars, being the amount paid him by the Navy Agent, as the balance 
found due after his account had been examined and approved by 
Commodore Morris. This action was continued to April 1823, and 
in the meantime the petitioner wrote to the 4th Auditor of the 
Treasury Department for documents proper for his defence, and was 
informed by letter from the said 4th Auditor, that the petitioner’s 
account had been settled in his office, and that the attorney of the 
United States for the District of Maine had been directed to discon¬ 
tinue the action commenced against him. In consequence of this infor¬ 
mation, the petitioner made no further preparations for his defence. 



152 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[18th Congress, 


The district attorney refused to discontinue the action, and after¬ 
wards obtained a judgment against the petitioner. An execution was 
issued and delivered to a Deputy Marshal. The petitioner not being 
able to satisfy the same by payment, gave his promissory note with 
two securities for the amount of cost. An action has been commenced 
on the note, judgment obtained, and an execution has been issued 
and delivered to a Deputy Marshal, who demands about one hundred 
dollars of the petitioner to satisfy the same. 

After a full examination of the evidence in this case, the Committee 
are unanimously- of opinion that, as there yvas nothing due to the 
United States from the petitioner at the time the suit was com¬ 
menced against him, the judgment obtained against the petitioner 
and his securities should be discharged, and that the petitioner 
should be indemnified for his cost and trouble in defending the first 
siit commenced against him; and they, therefore, report a bill. 


Made February 1, 1825. 

Read: To lie upon the table. 

The Committee on Naval Officers, to which was referred the petition 
of the seamen of the frigate Philadelphia, 

report: 

The petitioners represent that they were a part of the crew of the 
Philadelphia Frigate, under the command of Commodore Bainbridge 
in 1804, when they were taken prisoners, and detained 
atePhiK of the Fng ' nineteen months in slavery at Tripoli; that while 
there their clothing and every article of property 
was taken from them. They pray to be remunerated. 

The Committee are not satisfied that remuneration should be made 
for a loss of this discription. It is no more than the ordinary losses 
to which any seaman and every soldier is liable in the chances of war. 
They therefore submit the following resolution. 

Resolved , That the prayer of the petitioners ought not to be granted. 


Made February 4, 1825. 

Read, and, with the Bill, committed to a Committee of the whole 
House tomorrow. 

N°. 58. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, report on the petition of Charles 
D. Brodie: 

The petitioner claims remuneration for an invention discovered by 
him in the repair of a leak in the United States’ seventy-four gun 
Chs. D. Brodie. shi P tlle Delaware, by which the immense risk and 
expense of heaving down were avoided. The Presi¬ 
dent of the Navy Board speaks in the highest terms of the merit of 




1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


153 


the invention, and the result he amply attests. The Secretary of the 
Navy and the Board concur in the opinion that remuneration should 
be made. The petitioner has rendered the service, and the Gov¬ 
ernment received it. From the immutability of right, it follows that 
compensation is due: the only question is as to amount. The peti¬ 
tioner was in the service and pay of the Government; and the experi¬ 
ment, through the invention of the petitioner, was at the expense of 
the Government; the whole saving, therefore, cannot be due him. 
But your Committee concur in the opinion that less than a tenth of 
the amount actually saved is the least that could be offered him. 
They therefore report a bill for paying him a thousand dollars. 


Made February 8, 1825. 

Read, and, with the Bill, committed to a Committee of the whole 
House to-morrow. 


N°. 61. 


The Committee of Naval Affairs to which was referred the petition 
of Elias Glen, 


report: 


That the petitioner was employed by the late Secretary of the Navy, 
to take certain depositions, and procure information as regarded 
E Glen the sinking of certain vessels at Baltimore. It appears 

that the petitioner has received no compensation for 
his said services; that the Secretary of the Navy has come to the 
conclusion that he cannot pay him, and that he must look to Congress 
for relief. The petitioner states “that he was employed a portion of 
each day for about three weeks in attending to this business.” The 
Committee report a bill for his relief, granting one hundred dollars. 


Made Februray 11, 1825. 

Read, and, with the bill, committed to a Committee of the whole 
House to-morrow. 


N°. 66. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of Catharine Wise, 

report: 

It appears, by the documents referred to the Committee, that the 
petitioner in this case is the widow of George S. Wise, deceased, 
late a purser in the Navy of the United States; that, 
Catharine j n the year 1813, the said George S. Wise, in compli¬ 

ance with the rules for the regulation of the Navy, put on board the 
United States’ sloop of War Wasp, a variety of articles denominated 




154 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[18th Congress, 


“small stores/’ for the convenience and preservation of the health 
of the crew, to the amount of about three thousand dollars, and the 
same amount was charged to the purser in his account with the Navy 
Department. 

About the 13th of October, 1813, the Wasp sailed from the Dela¬ 
ware; on the seventh day after her departure she captured the 
British sloop of War Frolic, and on the same day the Wasp was 

captured and taken possession of with her-and stores, by the 

British ship of war Poic tiers. Notwithstanding these stores were 
put on board by the purser, in the performance of his duty, and 
afterwards taken possession of by the enemy, which rendered it 
impossible for him to appropriate them according to the original 
intention, the accounting officers of the Navy Department do not 
think themselves authorized to credit the amount m the settlement 
of the purser’s account, without the authority of Congress. 

The petitioner prays that an act may be passed to authorize an 
adjustment of this claim, on just and equitable principles; and the 
Committee find no reason why the prayer of the petitioner should 
not be granted, and therefore report a bill. 


Made February 15, 1825. 

Read, and laid upon the table. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Anthony Gale, report, that they have taken the same into considera 
. ,. „ . tion, and find that the duties for which Mr. Gale now 

claims remuneration, have been performed by almost 
every officer of the Corps who has had command at the Navy Yard 
of Boston, New York, or Philadelphia, and no allowance has ever 
been made to any one of them. Your Committee are of opinion that 
the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted, and submit the 
following resolution: 

Resolved, That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his papers. 


Made February 21, 1825. 


Read & agreed to—Petition rejected. 


The .Committee of Naval Affaire, to which was referred the petition 
of William B. Ligon, 


report: 


That in this case a report was made adverse to the claim of the 
petitioner, by the Committee of Claims on the 22 d December, 1819, 
Wm B. Ligon which the attention of the House is respectfully 

invited, your Committee concur in the opinion of 
said Committee of claims. Your Committee therefore recommend 
the adoption of the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition 
and documents. 





1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


155 


Made March 2, 1825. 

Read, and ordered that it lie upon the table. 
N°. 89. 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the memo¬ 
rial of John M. Gamble, a Captain of Marines, in the United 
John m. Gamble. States’ Navy, praying compensation for the capture 
of the Seringapatam, during the late war with Great 

Britain, 


report: 


That Captain Gamble, then a Lieutenant of Marines, was attached 
to the Essex Frigate, during her memorable cruize in the Pacific 
Ocean, and was entrusted, by Commodore Porter, with the command 
of the Greenwich, one of the prizes; that, whilst thus commanding, 
he fel in with the Seringapatam, an armed ship of the enemy, of 
very superior force, which, after a short conflict, he captured. From 
the papers accompanying the memorial, it may be perceived, that 
this affair was regarded, at the time, as a very gallant one; but 
owing to the capture of Commodore Porter’s despatches, no official 
account has ever been published. The Committee regret that the 
prayer of the memorialist cannot properly be granted, there being 
no precedent of any compensation, further than the prize, ever having 
been made to the captors of the private armed ships of the enemy. 

The Committee, however, cannot consent to close their report 
without expressing their sense of the gallantry, skill, and enterprize, 
displayed by Captain Gamble, in the capture of the Seringapatam. 
The Committee recommend the adoption of the following resolution: 

Resolved , That the memorialist have leave to withdraw his memorial 
and papers. 






































19 th CONGRESS, 1 st SESSION. 


In the House of Representatives 

of the United States, 

December 7, 1825. 

A Committee on Naval Affairs was appointed, pursuant to the 
standing rules and orders of the House, consisting of 


Mr. Storrs, Chairman. 
Mr. Holcombe, 

Mr. Bartlett, 

Mr. Saunders, 

Mr. Markley, 

Mr. Fran 3 Johnson & 
Mr. Sands. 


Members. 


Rep. No. 1. 
PENELOPE DENNY. 


Made December 19, 1825. 

Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Penelope Denney, respectfully report: 

That they have considered the case of the petitioner, and directed 
a bill to be reported for her relief. That a bill was reported for her 
relief at the First Session of the Seventeenth Congress, and they 
respectfully refer to the report made by the Committee on the 13th 
day of January, 1823, accompanying the said bill, for the grounds 
on which the Committee consider the said petitioner entitled to relief 
from Congress. 


157 





158 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19th Congress, 


Rep. No. 4. 

REPRESENTATIVES OF GEORGE S. WISE. 


Made December 19, 1825. 


Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Catharine Wise, widow of George S. Wise, deceased, respectfully 
report: 

That they have had the sad petition and documents under their 
consideration, and find that the said George S. Wise was a purser in 
the Navy, attached to the Sloop of War, before, and during the time 
of her cruise in which she was captured; that it was his duty, as 
Purser of the ship, to furnish to the men on board the said Sloop of War, 
certain articles necessary to their health and comfort, usually called 
small stores; that there was on board the said vessel, when captured, 
articles of that description to a considerable amount in value. The 
Commitee are of opinion that his representatives are entitled, in 
justice and equity, to be credited by the Accounting Officers of the 
Department, the amount of all such articles, as it shall satisfactorily 
appear to them were on board the said sloop of war, at the time of 
her capture, and furnished by the said George S. Wise, for the use of 
said sloop of war, on her said cruise; and for that purpose they have 
directed a bill to be reported. 


Rep. No. 41. 

LIEUTENANT SILAS DUNCAN. 


Made January 18, 1826. 

Read, and committed to a Committee of the whole House to-morrow. 

Mr. Holcombe, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was 
referred the petition of Silas Duncan, made the following 

report: 

Accompanied with a joint resolution, expressive of the sense of 
Congress of the gallant conduct of Lieutenant Duncan, of the United 
States’ Navy. 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


159 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the Memo¬ 
rial of Silas Duncan, a Lieutenant in the Navy of the United States, 
report: 

That they have had the same under consideration, and beg leave to 
state to the House the following facts: 

At the third session of Thirteen Congress, joint resolutions passed 
both Houses of Congress, and were approved of by the President, 

1 ‘expressive of the sense of Congress of the gallant conduct of Capt. 
Thomas McDonough, the officers, seamen, and marines, and infantry 
serving as marines, on board the United States’ squadron on Lake 
Champlain,” and presenting to them the thanks of Congress, with a 
request to the President of the United States, that he would cause 
gold and silver medals to be struck, and presented to the officers men¬ 
tioned in said resolutions, and a sword to each of the Midshipmen and 
Sailing Masters who so gallantly distinguished themselves in the 
memorable conflict of the 11th of September, 1814, on that Lake. 

The Committee would further state, that Lieutenant Duncan was 
attached to the Naval force on Lake Champlain, by an order from 
the Navy Department, dated in April, 1814, at the time the squadron 
was fitting out at Vergennes; that, in the first instance, he was 
attached to the sloop President, commanded b} r Captain Cassin, and 
was subsequently ordered to take charge of the Preble, when the 
squadron commenced dropping down into the Lake; that from the 
Preble he was ordered to the Ticonderoga of 17 guns, one of the new 
vessels commanded by Captain Cassin, and from that vessel to the 
command of one of the new galleys, with two heavy guns and fifty 
men; that on the fourth of September, he was directed to join the 
Saratoga, the flag ship of Captain McDonough, as an acting Lieu¬ 
tenant, in which situation he remained until he was ordered to 
superintend the operations of the light vessels of the squadron, under 
the following circumstances: On the morning of the sixth of Sep¬ 
tember, the British forces, under the command of Governor Prevost, 
were reported to be in the vicinity of the bay, in their advance on 
Plattsburg, and the light vessels in question were ordered to take a 
position off the mouth of Dead Creek, for the purpose of attacking the 
enemy and impeding his progress. In the execution of this design, 
the enemy was exposed to so destructive and well directed a fire, at 
short grape and canister distance, as to be compelled to retreat and 
change his position. During the course of this gallant action, 
Lieutenant Duncan, being under the necessity^of passing from vessel 
to vessel, and who thereby drew upon hi ms® the attention of the 
enemy and his heaviest fire, was severely wounded, having the top of 
his shoulder carried away by a cannon ball, which shattered and laid 
bare the shoulder joint; and confined him to the hospital, with little 
hopes of recovery, for sixteen months afterwards, and thus deprived 
him of an opportunity of participating in the glorious and decisive 
engagement which soon followed. 

From the above facts, which are fully attested by satisfactory 
documents, the Committee have not hesitated to consider the 
Memorial of Lieutenant Duncan, (praying that the provisions of the 
joint resolution of Congress, already referred to, be extended to him) 
as perfectly just and reasonable—and, moreover, as highly creditable 
to his feelings as an officer and a gentleman. 

The Committee, therefore, recommend the adoption of accompany¬ 
ing joint resolution. 


160 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19th Congress, 


WILLIAM BELCHER, AND OTHERS. 


Made January 16, 1826. 


Read, and laid upon the table. 


Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the follow¬ 
ing 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the peti¬ 
tion of William Belcher, respectfully report: 

That they have considered the case of the said petitioner; that he 
represents that he, with others, his associates, in the year 1813, built 
a vessel intended from her construction as a vessel of war; that they 
intended to have sold her to the United States, if a contract for that 
purpose could have been made between them and the Agents of the 
Government; but that before any contract was made, the vessel 
was captured by the public enemy (during the late war with Great 
Britain) at Pettipaug on Connecticut River, and afterwards burnt. 
The petitioner states that he conceives that he is equitably entitled 
to some compensation or indemnification from the Government. The 
Committee are of opinion, that however meritorious and patriotic the 
intentions of the petitioner and his associates may have been, the loss 
of the vessel must be considered as one of those calamities of War for 
which the Government has never admitted or recognized its obliga¬ 
tion to make remuneration from the Public Treasury. They there¬ 
fore recommend to the House the following resolution: 

Resolved , That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition. 


Rep. No. 43. 
SAMUEL ANGUS. 


^lvde January 20, 1826. 

Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was 
referred the petition of Samuel Angus, made the following 

report: 

Which was read, and laid upon the table. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the 
memorial of Samuel Angus, late a Post Captain in the Navy of the 
United States, respectfully report: 




1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


161 


That the Memorialist was dismissed from the Navy by order of 
the President of the United States, on the first day of June, 1824: 
He prays that Congress would reinstate him in his original rank, as 
a Captain in the Navy. The papers accompanying this report show 
the causes which rendered it necessary, in the opinion of the Executive 
Department, from a regard for discipline and sense of public duty, to 
separate the memorialist from the naval service of the country. The 
Committee are of opinion that, after this exercise of the power of the 
Executive, the facts presented by the memorial and Documents do 
not present a proper case for the interposition of the legislative power 
of Congress. 

It is stated in the memorial that the petitioner has been badly 
wounded in the public service; but the Committee have not con¬ 
sidered the propriety of recommending to the House, on his behalf, 
any provision on that account, as the prayer of the Memorial is ex¬ 
clusively confined to his restoration to his original rank in the Navy. 
The Committee recommend to the House the following resolution: 

Resolved , That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition. 

Note. —See printed Report No. 43 for Petition & Documents 
referred to. 


THE BLACKSMITHS OF THE NAVY YARD, WASHINGTON. 


Made January 20, 1826. 
Read—To lie. 


Mr. Holcombe, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the 
following 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the Memo¬ 
rial and Petition of sundry Blacksmiths of the City of Washington, 
praying that Armorers in the Navy, be raised to the rank and grade 
of Warrant Officers, and entitled to the same pay, rations, and emolu¬ 
ments as Carpenters, Gunners, and Sail-makers, in the service, 
report: 

That they have had the same under consideration, and, in answer 
to a letter of inquiry addressed to the Navy Department, have been 
informed, “that Armorers have the same grade and pay as was 
established for them in the first organization of the Navy, and which 
have been continued to them to the present time without variation, 
and that no benefit is perceived which would result to the service 
from the change suggested/’ 

The Committee, therefore, recommend the adoption of the follow¬ 
ing resolution: 

Resolved , That the petitioners have leave to withdraw their petition. 

39889—10 - 11 



162 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19th Congress, 


Rep. No. 44. 
ISAAC PHILLIPS. 


Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Xaval Affairs, to which was 
referred the Memorial of Isaac Phillips, made the following 

report : 

Which was read, and laid upon the table. 

January 21, 1826. 

The Committee on Xaval Affairs, to whom was referred the Memo¬ 
rial of Isaac Philips, formerly a Post Captain in the Xavy of the 
United States, respectfully report: 

That the Memorialist was appointed a Captain in the Xavy on the 
3d da}’ of July, 1798, and ordered to the command of the Sloop of 
War Baltimore, then employed on the American coast; and during 
her cruise, while convoying several American merchantmen to the 
Havana, she fell in with a British squadron near that port, under the 
command of Commodore Loring, by whose orders she was boarded 
by a British Lieutenant and party of men, who mustered her crew 
and took away a number of her seamen. On the return of the 
Memorialist to the United States he was, by an order addressed to 
him by the then Secretary of the Xavy Department, on the 10th 
Jan. 1799, dismissed from the Xaval service for alleged misconduct 
on that occasion. He now prays to be restored to his rank of Post 
Captain in the Xavy, and states that his dismission was not sanction 
by the Executive Department, and that the letter of the Secretary 
of the Xavy was written without the authority or knowledge of the 
President; that the circumstances under which he was placed, when 
his command of the said sloop of war was violated, were such, for the 
reasons alleged by him, that his dismission was not justified by any 
misconduct on his part; and that the Executive Department pos¬ 
sessed no power to separate him from the Xaval service without a 
trial by court martial. 

The Committee are of opinion, that it would be wholly unsafe to act 
upon the suggestion, that the order referred to was issued without 
authority; and that, if the subject of relief to the memorialist was 
even properly addressed to the legislative power of Congress, yet the 
lapse of time since this order was issued, his acquiescence until this 
period, and the consequent injurious, if not unjust disturbance of 
rank, which might be produced in the naval service, present insuper¬ 
able objections to any examination of the circumstances which, in 
the opinion of the President, required that exercise of Executive 
authority in the case of the memorialist. 

The Committee, therefore, recommend to the House the following 
resolution: 

Resolved, That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition. 

Note. —Memorial printed. See Report No. 44. 


1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


163 


NATHANIEL BOSTWICK. 

Made January 23, 1826. 

Read, and ordered to lie upon the table. 

Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the 
following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the peti¬ 
tion of Nathaniel Bostwick, respectfully report : 

That the petitioner claims' that he is entitled to receive a share of 
prize money as one of the Captors of the Sloop of War Hermes during 
the late war with Great Britain, and he prays that Congress would 
make some legislative provision to enable him to receive the same. 
The letter of the Third Auditor of the Treasury Department, here¬ 
with submitted, shows that, under the act of Congress of the 5th of 
March, 1816, the petitioner, on establishing his right to such prize 
money, as one of the captors of said vessel, according to the regula¬ 
tions of that Department, can receive the same without any legis¬ 
lative provision on his behalf. 

The Committee, therefore recommend to the House the following 
resolution: 

Resolved, That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition. 


Treasury Department, 

3d Auditor’s Office, 
Januarv 17 th , 1826. 

Sir. 

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, of the 
16th Inst., enclosing the petition of Nath 1 Bostwick for his share of 
the prize money in the case of the Sloop of War Hermes, captured 
during the late War by the Garriand of Fort Bowyer, asking me to 
state why legislative aid was necessary prior to its payment, and to 
furnish you with any information on the subject in my power. 

In reply, I have to state that the whole amount ascertained to be 
due to the captors, under the act of Congress of the 5th March, 1816, 
was, by the Acting Secretary of War, m May 1817, placed in the 
hands of Micajah Crupper, then an officer of the Army, to proceed 
to the section of Country where the troops were then stationed, to 
make the payment to them, individually; this was done, but a 
number of the soldiers had been discharged and left the place, and 
consequently were not paid. The petitioner, it is presumed, was 
one of them. The officer, on settlement, failed to account for the 
balance in his hands, and consequently, when application was made 
at this office in behalf of the petitioner, payment could not be made 


164 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19th Congress, 


for want of funds, the appropriation having been exhausted. Since 
then, however, a small amount has been recovered from the person 
to whom the money was originally advanced, and the present claim 
can be discharged on the production of the necessary evidence, 
without Legislative interference; but there are other claims which 
may make it necessary to appropriate, in anticipation of future 
recoveries, a small amount, say five hundred dollars. 

The papers are returned. 

With great respect, 

Your obed* serU 


Peter Hagner. 


The Hon bl H. R. Storrs, 

Chairman, cfee. &c. House of Rep s . 


Rep. No. 48. 

MRS. SUSAN DECATUR—PRIZE MONEY. 


January 24, 1826. 


Mr. Holcombe, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the 
following 


report: 


Accompanied by a Bill for the relief Susan Decatur, widow, and 
representative of Captain Stephen Decatur, and others. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the Memo¬ 
rial and Petition of Susan Decatur, widow, and sole representative 
of Stephen Decatur, Esq. late a Captain in the Navy of the United 
States, in behalf of herself and of the officers and crew of the United 
States' Ketch Intrepid, report: 

That, on the night of the 16tli of February, 1804, the late Stephen 
Decatur, then a Lieutenant in the Navy of the United States, entered 
the harbor of Tripoli, in a small ketch called the Intrepid, boarded, 
captured, and destroyed the Tripolitan frigate late the United States' 
frigate Philadelphia, and retreated from the presence of his astonished 
and panic-stricken enemy, unpursued, and without the loss of a 
single man. 

The official details of this splendid achievement, the Committee 
believe are so familiar, both to the House, and to the Nation, that 
they consider it unnecessary, at this time, to particularize them. 
There are, however, some facts connected with it which, in the lapse 
of twenty-two years, have doubtless been obliterated from the recol¬ 
lection of many, but which are so illustrative of its extraordinary 
gallantry and results, that the Committee beg leave, very briefly, 
to call the attention of the House to them. 

The Philadelphia, a frigate of fifty guns, was moored in the harbor 
of Tripoli, within pistol-shot distance of the whole of the Tripolitan 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


165 


marine, mounting altogether upwards of a hundred cannon, and 
within the immediate protection of the following formidable batteries: 

Fort English, 1 

Fort America, and [Mounting 50 cannon, 
other batteries. 

Fort Way, 

The Mole-head, and [Mounting 65 cannon, 
other batteries. | 

Making an aggregate of one hundred and fifteen pieces of heavy 
artillery. Besides this force, there were encamped at the time, in 
the city and its vicinities, twenty thousand soldiers, and, attached 
to the fleet and in the harbor, upwards of a thousand seamen. The 
frigate, also, was ready for sea, and fully prepared for an obstinate 
defence. But, in despite of this most formidable, and to ordinary 
minds appalling force, Lieutenant Decatur, at the head of seventy 
American seamen, taken without selection from his owm ship, (for the 
whole fleet had volunteered for the service,) w T ith a fearlessness and 
skill which are above all commendation, entered the harbor of Tripoli, 
attacked, boarded, and carried the enemy, w r ith the same coolness 
and celerity as if she had been anchored in an open road-stead, and 
undefended by a single piece of artillery. 

Heroism among seamen is a virtue of neither rare nor unexpected 
occurrance. The annals of every maritime nation, on the contrary, 
abound with details of bold adventure and gallant actions. And the 
history of our own marine, brief, but glorious, as it is, represents an 
unbroken series of heroic enterprises, resulting, for the most part, 
in signal victories. But the Committee, without attempting to 
institue a comparison between this and any other action, (winch the 
very nature of our naval victories, they are proud to say, precludes 
the possibility,) or attempting to disparage in the remotest degree 
the merits of others, would observe, that the destruction of the 
Philadelphia, when all the circumstances associated with it are taken 
into consideration, is, at least, unsurpassed by any nautical achieve¬ 
ment—an achievement equally admirable for its chivalry of its con¬ 
ception, and the brilliant and decisive manner of its execution. 

The destruction of the Philadelphia, the Committee would further 
observe, was not more glorious to our arms, than advantageous to 
us, in all our subsequent negotiations with the Barbary Powders. An 
exploit so novel and extraordinary could not fail to impress vividly 
the fears, as well as the imagination and memory of the Mahometan. 
And so permanent and peculiar has this impression been, that, during 
the late infraction of the Algerine treaty, the name, and presence 
of the destroyer of the Philadelphia, with a small squadron of frigates,- 
effected more in a single hour, than Lord Exmouth, at the head of 
a formidable fleet, and after tw T o bloody victories, w^as ever able to 
accomplish. 

For this signal service, (of incalculable benefit to us, as far as the 
Treasury alone is concerned) the gallant commander and crew 7 of the 
Intrepid, have, as yet, received from their country nothing in the 
form of remuneration, further than what is embraced by the following 
resolution, passed by Congress, November 27, 1804: 

u Resolved by the "Senate and House of Representatives, &c. That 
“the President of the United States be requested to present, in the 


166 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19th Congress, 


“name of Congress, to Captain Stephen Decatur a sword, and to 
“each of the officers and crew of the United States’ Ketch Intrepid, 
“two months’ pay, as a testimony of the high sense entertained by 
“Congress of the gallantry, good conduct, and services, of Captain 
“Decatur, the officers, and crew of said Ketch, in attacking, in the 
“harbor of Tripoli, and destroying a Tripolitan frigate of 44 guns.” 

Lieutenant Decatur probably accepted the sword voted him; but 
the officers, it is understood, with feelings becoming officers, unani¬ 
mously declined the bounty of Congress. 

If the policy of the Government be to stimulate and encourage the 
gallantry and good conduct of its marine, by suitable rewards, the 
present cases, in the opinion of the Committee, presents the strongest 
appeal to the justice and generosity of Congress. For “if skill and 
gallantry, (to use the language of the able and eloquent Memorial 
submitted to the Committee, and to which the House is referred for 
such further facts and illustrations of the accompanying Bill as may 
be required,) if enterprise and heroism, are ever entitled to com¬ 
mendation and reward, where have they been more signally exhibited ? 
If to have maintained the honor of the Country, and added splendor 
to the standard, create claims upon a nation, where have any of a 
higher character been presented ?” 

The Committee, although aware of the full force of this appeal, and 
furthermore, that, by usage and precedent, (independently of the 
extraordinary merit of the achievement,) the memorialists are justly 
entitled to a liberal remuneration from Congress, yet they would avail 
themselves of this opportunity to disavow, distinctly, the principle, 
that the Captors of the public ships of the enemy have a right, 
expressed or understood, for such remuneration, further than what 
has been established by law. 

The love of country, it is believed, and the desire for distinction, 
will always prove a sufficient stimulus to gallant and patriotic men 
to do their duty, and even to transcend it, whenever opportunities 
may offer. A liberal and enlightened Government, however, will 
always make a distinction between ordinary services (such as occur 
in the common line of duty) and those perilous enterprises, which are 
conceived, planned, and executed by volunteers alone; of which the 
present is an illustrious example. And, inasmuch as Congress, in 
every case, (with this sole exception, has awarded some substantial 
pecuniary donation, in the shape of a reward, for ships of the enemy 
captured and destroyed at sea, the Committee cannot perceive upon 
what principle it can be withheld in this, one of the earliest, and 
certainly not the least important, of our naval victories. 

Before closing their report, the Committee would respectfully call 
the attention of the House to a brief recapitulation of some of the 
important public benefits which, in their opinion, have resulted from 
the capture and destruction of the Philadelphia: 

It enlisted public opinion in favor of the Navy, which, until that 
moment, had been cold and indifferent, if not hostile to it. 

It stimulated, powerfully, that spirit of enterprise and love of 
glory, so natural to our seamen, which has since been so signally 
displayed in repeated triumphs upon the favorite element of the 
enemy, during the late war. 


1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


167 


It relieved us (in connection with those desperate conflicts upon 
the same theatre, in all of which Lieutenant Decatur was pre-emi¬ 
nently distinguished) from the thraldom and ignominy of a tributary 
peace; by impressing, not Tripoli alone, but the whole of the Barbary 
States, with a sense of our prowess and enterprise, which has con¬ 
tinued vivid’and unimpaired, to the present moment; and which has 
served effectually to protect our flag and commerce from insult and 
violation, throughout the long interval of peace which has succeeded. 
And, finally, it contributed largely to our stock of national glory; 
which, in the language of a distinguished modern statesman is above 
all price, and, to young and popular Governments, the richest of all 
acquisitions. 

With such views, and after a full and dispassionate examination 
of the memorial and petition submitted to them, the Committee 
report the accompanying bill. 

See Memorial and "Petition printed with report No. 48. 


WILLIAM MELLERS. 


Made February 7, 1826. 

Read, and laid on the table. 

Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of William Mellers, and the documents accompanying the same, 
respectfully report: 

That the petitioner states that he invented, in the year 1804, a 
method of securing the decks and sides of vessels from decay by what 
is usually called water-tight plugging; that, in the year 1822, he 
obtained a patent for his said invention, which has since been deter¬ 
mined judicially to be of no validity; that, in 1823, an order was 
issued from the Navy Board for the use of the said invention on the 
public vessels of the United States. He represents the invention 
to have been of great utility to the country and to the naval service, 
and prays a compensation from Congress for the benefits which have 
or may accrue from it to the public. The Committee are of opinion, 
that it is inexpedient to grant the prayer of the petitioner, and that 
he has no claim to remuneration from Congress, and recommend to 
the House the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition 
and documents. 



168 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19th Congress, 


SALVADOR CATALONA. 


Made February 9th, 1826. 


Read, and ordered to lie on the table. 


Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Salvador Catalona, respectfully report: 

That the petitioner claims to be allowed, as a sailing master, (which 
place he holds in the Navy,) two dollars per week, as chamber money, 
from the 9th day of August, 1809, to the 31st day of December, 1821, 
being 648 weeks, amounting to $1,297 t 4 oV The petitioner has been 
during that time attached to the Navy Yard at Washington, or on 
duty there. The letter of the Secretary of the Navy Department, 
addressed to the Committee, and accompanying this report, shows 
the grounds on which the claim of the petitioner has been refused 
payment at that Department. 

The Committee are of opinion that the petitioner is not entitled to 
the said allowance of chamber money during that period, and recom¬ 
mend the following resolution to the House: 

Resolved , That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition. 

Note.— Letter of the Sect 7 of the Navy referred to mislaid, there¬ 
fore not recorded. 


EDWARD S. YOUNG. 


February 20, 1826. 


Mr. Holcombe, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the 
following 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Edward S. Young, of the Borough of Norfolk, Va., report: 

That the petitioner, in the years 1819 & 1820, was employed by 
Capt. Elliot of the Navy, in assisting to survey a part of the Southern 
Coast of the United States; that whilst thus employed, owing to 
excessive fatigue and exposure, he contracted a violent illness, for 
the expenses of which, and for loss of time consequent thereon, he 
prays relief. 

The Committee cannot perceive, upon any proper principle, or 
precedent established by this Government, that such relief should be 
afforded, and, therefore, recommend the adoption of the following 
resolution: 

Resolved, That the petition of Edward S. Young ought not to be 
granted. 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


169 


Rep. No. 84. 

WILLIAM THOMPSON. 


Made February 21, 1826. 

Mr. Holcombe, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was 
referred the petition of William Thompson, made the following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of William Thompson, report: 

That the petitioner shipped, as a seaman, in the year 1819, on 
board the United States’ Revenue Cutter, Louisiana, J air us Loomis, 
Esq. Commander: That, on the 30th July, of the same year, in conse¬ 
quence of numerous piracies committed on the Florida Coast, the 
Secretary of the Treasury was induced to send a Revenue Cutter to 
cruise on that station: That, on the 10th of August, the said Cutter, 
the Louisiana, had an engagement with the piratical schooner Bravo, 
in which the petitioner was severely wounded in the back, by a musket 
ball, and is thereby disabled. 

The above facts are fully substantiated, though the case is con¬ 
sidered by the Navy Department, not strictly within the existing law; 
and the petitioner applies to Congress for a pension. 

The Committee consider the case as clearly within the spirit, if not 
the letter, of the law granting pensions; for, if the Cutter was not 
cooperating, at the time of the engagement, with the Naval force of 
the United States, she was performing a service which regularly 
belonged to the Navy. They therefore report a bill for the relief of 
the petitioner. 


DANIEL H. TILLINGHAST. 


Made March 1st, 1826. 

Read, and ordered to lie upon the table. 


Mr. Sands, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Daniel H. Tillinghast, administrator of Thomas G. Tillinghast, late 
a Lieutenant on board the Sloop of War Wasp, praying for his right 




170 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19th Congress, 


of $50,000, voted by Congress to the relatives of the deceased officers 
on board thatship, and for his pay for his services unsettled for the want 
of vouchers; and, also, that the money paid on a suit instituted against 
him by the Navy Department, may be refunded; find that Lt.Tilling- 
hast’s proportion of the $50,000, voted by Congress, and 12 months’ 
pay for the unsettled account for want of vouchers, have both been 
paid by the Navy Department, and that the suit instituted against 
him for $505 T 4 o 2 o? was for a balance due,from Lieut Tillinghast as 
settled at the office of the 4th Auditor. And they therefore report 
the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 


NAVY YARDS—CHARLESTON, S. C., ST. MARY'S, GA., AND 
SAVANNAH, GA. 


Made March 2, 1826. 


Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, who have been directed by resolu¬ 
tions of the House respectively to inquiry into the expediency of 
establishing a Navy Yard at Charleston, South Carolina, and at some 
suitable point on the St. Mary’s river; and to whom was also referred 
the Memorial of the Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Savannah; 
as to the enquiries directed by the said resolutions, and so much of 
the said Memorial as prays the establishment of a Navy Yard or 
Depot at Savannah, respectfully report: 

That they have considered the said subjects so referred to them by 
the House, and are of opinion that it is inexpedient, at this time, to 
establish a Navy Yard at any port between the Chesapeake Bay and 
Cape Florida. Before a Navy Yard can be judiciously located at any 
place between those points on the coast, it is indispensable that 
further surveys should be made of harbours which have not yet been 
minutely and thoroughly examined. Among these are Beaufort , in 
South Carolina, and Savannah and Brunswick , in Georgia, for the 
survey of which the Committee recommend to the House, that an 
appropriation be made of the sum of eight thousand dollars. This 
amount will, in the opinion of the Committee, be sufficient to cover 
all the expenses incident to such surveys. 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


171 


Rep. No. 92. 

NAVY YARD—BALTIMORE. 


Made March 2, 1826. 

Ordered to be laid upon the table. 

Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which the 
subject had been referred, made the following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the Memo¬ 
rial of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, praying that a Navy 
Yard may be established at that Port, and who were also directed by a 
Resolution of the House, of the 16th of December last, to inquire into 
the expediency of establishing a Navy Yard at the said Port, respect¬ 
fully report: 

That they have had the subjects of the said Memorial and resolu¬ 
tion under their consideration, and are of opinion that it is inexpedient, 
at this time, to provide by law for the establishment of a Navy Yard 
at the said Port. It does not appear to the Committee that any 
pressing necessity exists at this time, which calls for the increase of 
the number of Navy Yards north of the entrance to the Chesapeake 
and if it shall be found hereafter expedient to increase them, it will 
first be necessary to obtain complete surveys of the whole of that part 
of the coast. The Committee have now under their consideration, 
the expediency of providing by law for completing the survey of the 
coast of the United States, as recommended in the report of the 
Secretary of the Department of the Navy, to the President of the 
United States, in his letter of the 2 d of December, 1825, and by the 
President communicated to Congress, with his Message, at the com¬ 
mencement of the session; and they, therefore, deem it inexpedient 
to grant the prayer of the said Memorial. They recommend to the 
House the following resolution: 

Resolved , That the Committee on Naval Affiars be discharged from 
the further consideration of the said Memorial. 


Rep. No. 93. 

NAVY YARD—NARRAGANSET BAY, R. I. 


Made March 2, 1826. 

Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which the 
subject had been referred, made the following 

report : 

Which was read and laid upon the table. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, who were instructed by a resolu¬ 
tion of the House, of the 5th of January last, to inquire into the 




172 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19th Congress, 


expediency of establishing a Navy Yard, and Naval Station within 
the waters of Narraganset Bay, in the State of Rhode Island, have 
had the same under consideration, and respectfully report the follow¬ 
ing resolution: 

Resolved , That it is not expedient, at this time, to establish a Navy 
Yard or Naval Station, in the waters of Narraganset Bay, in the State 
of Rhode Island. 


Rep. No. 94. 

NAVY YARD—RIVER THAMES, CONN. 


Made March 2, 1826. 

Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which the 
subject had been referred, made the following 

report : 

Which was read and laid upon the table. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, who were instructed by a resolu¬ 
tion of the 6th of January last, to inquire into the expediency of 
establishing a Navy Yard in the Waters of the River Thames, in the 
State of Connecticut, have had the same under consideration, and 
respectfully report the following resolution: 

Resolved , That it is not expedient, at this time, to establish a Navy 
Yard in the Waters of the River Thames, in the State of Connecticut. 


Rep. No. 120. 

ADDITIONAL NAVAL FORCE. 


Made March 17, 1826. 

Mr. Bartlett, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which the 
subject was referred, made the following 

report : 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred a com¬ 
munication from the Secretary of the Department of the Navy, of 
the 3d instant, in answer to a resolution of the House, of the 23d day 
of February last, inquiring “if there are a sufficient number of vessels 
now in” commission, for actual service, to enable him to “extend 
adequate protection to our Commerce, to the Empire of Brazil, and 





1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


173 


to the Republic of Buenos Ayres, and in the event of the whole 
naval force in commission being engaged on other stations, what 
additional appropriation will be required for that object,” respect¬ 
fully report: 

That they have had the subject so referred to them, by order of 
the House, under their consideration, and, in their opinion, a due 
regard to the interests of the United States, and the protection of its 
Commerce, requires that provision should be made by law, for fitting 
out a naval force adequate to their security, from aggression, by the 
public or private armed vessels of the Governments, now at war on 
the eastern coast of South America. It appears by the letter of the 
Secretary of the Navy Department, that the means now in the power 
of the Government will not enable that Department to afford this 
protection to our Commerce in that quarter, without withdrawing a 
naval force from other stations, where it cannot be diminished with 
safety. The Committee are of opinion, that the force to be sent on 
this service, should not be less than a frigate of the first or second 
class, and two sloops of War. The Guerriere can be prepared for 
sea in ninety, the Congress in sixty, and the Macedonian in forty- 
five days, and two sloops of War in about sixty days. To enable the 
Government to fit out one of these frigates, and two sloops of war, 
the Committee have directed a bill to be reported to the House, 
making the necessary appropriations for that object. 

For Documents—see printed Report, No. 120. 


ELIZABETH BANKS. 


Mr. Storrs, 
lowing 


Made March 29, 1826. 

Read, and ordered to lie on the table, 
from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol- 
report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Elizabeth Banks, respectfully report: 

That the petitioner states that her former husband, Joseph Potter, 
was a seaman lost in the Brig Epervi’er, in the year 1816; that the 
said Joseph left a child, by the petitioner, born in lawful wedlock, 
which she maintained till the child died. She prays that Congress 
would grant to her a pension. The Committee are of opinion that 
it would be inexpedient to provide pensions for the families of seamen 
lost at sea by shipwreck or other mere marine casualties; and as the 
case of the petitioner presents no other ground for any allowance, 
they recommend to the House the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the petitioner have leave to withdraw her petition 
and papers. 




174 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19th Congress, 


Rep. No. 150. 

LIEUTENANT ISAAC McKEEVER. 


Made April 3, 1826. 

Mr. Bartlett, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was 
referred the petition of Isaac McKeever, made the following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Lt. Isaac McKeever, report: 

That the petitioner represents, that on the 18th day of June, 1818, 
he was commanding the L T nited States’ Ketch Surprise, and on that 
day he captured, off Pensacola, the schooners Merino and Louisa, 
with their cargoes, having on board twenty-five slaves, and con¬ 
ducted them to the port of Mobile, for prosecution for a violation of 
the laws of the United States. That the said vessels and cargoes 
were accordingly afterwards prosecuted, in the District Court of the 
United States, for the District of Alabama, and at the end of five 
years’ litigation, a decree of condemnation was pronounced against 
them, and one half of the proceeds awarded to the L T nited States, 
which decree has since been affirmed, on an appeal to the Supreme 
Court of the LTiited States. The petitioner further states, that the 
proceeds of the sale of the prizes amounted to $8,830.50, one half of 
which, to wit: $4,415.25 has been distributed amongst the captors, 
which b}' the rule of law, gave to your petitioner for his share $419.45. 
The petitioner states, that the other moiety of the proceeds of the 
sale, is not yet paid into the Treasury of the United States, but that 
bond is given for its payment. The petitioner further states that, 
from the uncommon duration of the legal controversy to effect the 
condemnation of said vessels, and the frequent journeys he was 
compelled to make himself and by his agents to the different Courts, 
he had expended the sum of $3,000 more than was allowed to him, and 
he now asks, in consideration of his services and liabilities in relation 
to said capture, in consideration of the expenses that he has incurred 
in the condemnation of said vessels, and that the rule of distribution 
has so operated, as to give him no more of the prize money, than other 
officers under this command, who incurred no responsibility, that the 
Lrnited States will relinquish to him their interest in the bond, 
securing to them the half of the proceeds of said prizes. While 
the services of Lieutenant McKeever have been most active and 
zealous, and have resulted in important benefits to his country, they 
have not been of a character to earn' with them pecuniary reward, 
and as the Committee believe that the amount now asked, after 
defraying the charges incurred, would not give to the petitioner a 
share of the prize money disproportioned to the responsibility and 
trouble which devolved upon him; and as the Committee find the 
principle recognized, in the “Act for the relief of David Porter and 
his officers and crew,” passed April 13th, 1814, they the prayer of 
the petitioner reasonable, and accordingly report a bill. 


1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


175 


FRANCIS HAYER. 


Made April 14, 1826. 


Read, and laid on the table. 


Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Francis Hayre, respectfully report:— 

That they have considered the case of the petitioner, who states 
that the amount of his pension now allowed to him, as a disabled 
seaman, is insufficient for his subsistence, and he prays that it may 
be increased. The Committee is opinion that no legislative act is 
necessary for the relief of the petitioner, the existing laws entitling 
him to an increase of his pension, if his disability is such that the 
amount now allowed to him is insufficient for his necessary subsistence. 
The Committee respectfully refer the House to their report at this 
session, in the case of Seth Townsend, and the letter of the Secretary 
of the Navy Department, which accompanies that report, as con¬ 
taining the views of the Committee on this subject, and the state of 
the pension laws as now existing. 

They recommend to the House the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition 
and papers. 


SETH TOWNSEND. 


Made April 14, 1826. 

Read, and laid upon the table. 

Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the follow¬ 
ing report on the application of Seth Townsend for an increase of 
Pension. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, who were instructed by a Resolu¬ 
tion of the House of the 5th instant, to inquire into “the expediency 
of increasing the pension allowed to Seth Townsend, a seaman, dis¬ 
abled in the service of the United States on board the Washington,” 
respectfully report: 

That they have considered the subject referred to them by the said 
resolution; that the said Seth Townsend prays an increase of the 




176 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19th Congress, 


pension now allowed to him as a disabled seaman under the laws of 
Congress. The Committee are of opinion, that if his disability at 
this time is such as to render an increase of it necessary to his sub¬ 
sistence, the laws already provide for increasing it, on a proper applica¬ 
tion for that purpose to the Commissioners of the Pension Fund, & 
on furnishing to them the proof required by the regulations established 
for such purposes. The Committee submit to the House, with this 
report, a letter from the Secretary of the Navy Department to the 
Committee, which refers to the laws as they now exist, and in the 
construction of them by that officer the Committee concur. They 
recommend to the House the following resolution: 

Resolved , That the Committee on Naval Affairs be discharged from 
the further consideration of the said Resolution, and that the said 
Seth Townsend have leave to withdraw his papers. 


Navy Department 

10 April, 1826. 

Sir, 

I have this morning the honor of receiving your letter of the 7th, 
enclosing certain papers in the case of Seth Townsend, a pensioner, 
and inquiring “if any legislation is necessary to enable the pensioner 
to obtain an increase of his pension, if he is in such a situation, or so 
disabled as to be entitled in justice to the increase of it?” By the 
8 th section of the “Act for the better government of the Navy of the 
United States,” passed 23 April, 1800, volume 3, page 351, it is enacted, 
that the pension to officers, seamen and marines, shall not exceed one 
half the monthly pay. 

By the 7 section of An act, in addition to an act, entitled “An act 
in relation to the Navy Pension Fund,” passed 16 April, 1816, volume 
6, page 64, the Commissioners are authorized, in their discretion, to 
increase the allowance to any sum, not exceeding the full amount of 
monthly pay to which the party was by law entitled in the service, 
where the allowance of the half monthly pay should , in their opinion , 
from the nature and extent of the disability and the situation of the 
party disabled , be inadequate to his necessary subsistence. The 
authority given in this section is very explicit, and I do not know 
that any explanation can be useful, either as to the cases in which 
the discretion is to be applied, or the extent to which it may be 
carried; if satisfactory evidence be furnished in the mode prescribed 
by the Commissioners, they may increase the Pension, provided the 
allowance alredy made “be inadequate to the necessary subsistence 
of the Applicant.” Any thing beyond what is adequate to the necessary 
subsistence must be allowed, not by the Commissioners, but by Con¬ 
gress. 

I am respectfully, &c. 

Saml L. Southard. 

Hon. Henry R. Storrs 

Ch 1 ? Naval Committee, H? Rep? 



REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


1st Session.] REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 177 

FRANCES GAMBLE, WIDOW OF LIEUT. FRANCIS B. GAMBLE. 


Made April 15th, 1826. 

Read, and laid upon the table. 

Mr. Storrs, from the Naval Committee, made the following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Frances Gamble, widow of Francis B. Gamble, lately a Lieutenant 
in the Navy of the United States, have considered the said petition 
and papers accompanying the same, and respectfully report: 

That the petitioner states that her late husband died in the year 
1824, while engaged in the performance of his duty in the Naval 
service, and from disease contracted by much exposure and great 
exertion in the performance of his duties, and she prays that a 
pension may be granted to her by Congress. The Case of the peti¬ 
tioner was referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs by order of 
this House at the second session of the last Congress, and an unfavor¬ 
able report made thereon, on the 28th day of February 1825. The 
Committee are of opinion, that it would be inexpedient to grant the 
prayer of the petitioner, and respectfully refer to the report of the 
Committee before made on this petition, as containing the principles 
on which they have come to this opinion. They recommend to the 
House the following resolution. 

Resolved , That the petitioner have leave to withdraw her petition 
and papers. 


ARCHIBALD McELROY. 


Made April 27, 1826. 


Read, and laid upon the table. 


Mr. Bartlett, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the 
following 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, who were instructed by a reso¬ 
lution of the House, of the 22d of April, 1826, to “ inquire into the 
expediency of providing for the payment of a sum of money paid by 
Archibald McElroy, for the expenses attending the disposition of a 
prize vessel, which was paid by him, which he has not been allowed 
in the settlement of his accounts/’ report: 

39889—10-12 




178 


REPOETS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19th Congress, 


That Archibald McElroy claims payment for the sum of $189.55, 
alleged to have been paid by him in the disposition of the prize 
vessels Victory & Le Jeaune, in June, 1801. Whatever sums were 
rightfully paid by McElroy should have been deducted from the 
proceeds of the prizes before distribution was ordered, and would 
unquestionably have been done, had he presented his claim to the 
Court. If he has not been indemnified, it has resulted from his own 
neglect, and the Committee do not deem it expedient, after a lapse 
of twenty five years, to grant any remedy. They therefore recom¬ 
mend the following resolution: 

Resolved, That it is not expedient to provide for the payment to 
Archibald McElroy, any expenses incurred by him in the disposition 
of the prize vessels Victory and Le Jeaune, in 1801. 


Rep. No. 189. 

REMAINS OF THE LATE CAPTAIN OLIVER H. PERRY. 


Made May 4, 1826. 

Read, and laid upon the table. 

Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which the 
subject had been referred, made the following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, who were directed by a Resolu¬ 
tion of the House of Representatives, of the 6th day of February last, 
to inquire into the propriety of causing the remains of the late Cap¬ 
tain O. H. Perry to be removed to the United States, respectfully 
report: 

That they have considered the subject referred to them by the said 
resolution, and they are of opinion that no legislative act whatever 
is necessary to accomplish the object of the resolution. It does not 
appear that any application has been made on behalf of the relatives 
or the late Captain Perry, to the Navy Department, for the purpose 
of removing his remains, and the Committee do not doubt, that 
whenever any such request shall be made, it will be promptly com¬ 
plied with. As no appropriation can be required for effecting the 
object of the resolution, it being within the power and discretion of 
the Government already, whenever an application for the purpose 
shall be made from, or on behalf of, his relatives, (and whose wishes 
on this subject, should, in the opinion of the Committee, be expressed 
or known, before the Navy Department could, with propriety, take 
any step for the purpose,) they are of opinion that it is inexpedient to 
act further on the subject of the resolution, and recommend that the 
Committee be discharged from the further consideration of the subject 
referred to them by the said resolution. 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS, 


179 


Rep. No. 188. 
WILLIAM H. BASSETT. 


Made May 4, 1826. 

Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was 
referred the petition of William H. Bassett, made the following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred sundry 
papers relating to the claim of William H. Bassett, respectfully 
report: 

That on the first day of October, 1823, the said Bassett contracted 
with Miles King, Navy Agent of the United States, at Norfolk, to 
transport from Richmond to the Navy Yard at Gosport, all the guns, 
shot, &c. for two seventy-fours, at the price of one dollar and seventy- 
five cents per ton, for freight; that the said Bassett was informed by 
King, in a letter of the 22d of September, that the guns were then 
ready to be transported. Under this contract, Mr. Bassett com¬ 
menced the transportation, and was proceeding to carry it, on his 
part, into effect, having employed in the business a schooner of about 
100 tons, called the Mapsico. It appears from the papers submitted 
to the Committee, to have been understood between the Navy Agent 
and Mr. Bassett, that the guns and shot were to be delivered, on the 
part of the United States, on board of said schooner, free of expense 
to Mr. Bassett. In the course of the performance of this contract, 
on the part of the claimant, it appears that difficulties arose, with 
Mr. Ludlum, at Richmond, (who seems to have been an Agent of 
Mr. King at Richmond,) as to the delivery of the guns on board the 
schooner; and it appears, further, that the contractors who were to 
deliver the guns at Richmond, to be transported from thence to 
Gosport, by Captain Bassett, failed, after delivering about 125; and 
when the schooner arrived at Richmond, on her next trip, on the sec¬ 
ond day of March, 1824, she was detained several days, on expense to 
the said Bassett, for want of a cargo. It further appears, that, on 
the arrival of the schooner at Richmond, at a previous trip on the 14th, 
day of January, 1824, difficulties arose between the said Ludlum and 
Capt Bassett, as to the delivery of the guns on board, and the schooner 
did not sail from Richmond until on or about the 22d day of January. 
The contract between the Navy Agent and Captain Bassett, contains 
no stipulations as to the delivery on the schooner's deck, of the guns 
and shot. That part of the labor was not specially provided for, but 
left uncertain, by the contract itself. The difficulty which took place 
at Richmond, between Ludlum and Captain Bassett, after the arrival 
of the schooner there, in January, appears to have been settled in 
some way, and the vessel was at Richmond, in all, only eight days. 
The Committee are of opinion, that the claim of the said Bassett, for 
demurrage for the time which he was unreasonably detained at 
Richmond, after his arrival there, on the second day of March, 1824, 
ought to be paid by the United States. The papers do not furnish 
to the Committee the evidence by which they can satisfactorily 


180 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19tii Conoress, 


determine what that detention was. It would not be just to allow to 
him demurrage for the whole period that the schooner lay at Rich¬ 
mond, at that trip; but he should be paid only for such time as he 
was unnecessarily detained, over and above the period which he 
would necessarily have remained there with his vessel, had the cargo 
been ready. This can be more satisfactorily ascertained by the offi¬ 
cers of the Department, in liquidating his claim. The Committee 
have directed a bill to be reported, for allowing to him his claim for 
detention, at the said trip. Under all the circumstances of the case, 
as they appear from the papers before the Committee, they are not 
satisfied that he is entitled to demurrage, for his detention at Rich¬ 
mond, in January, 1824. The amount per diem, for demurrage 
charged by the said Bassett, is $10.75 but the reasonableness of this, 
as well as the period for which it should be allowed, is submitted, by 
the bill, to the accounting officers of the Department of the Navy. 


JOHN THOMAS AND JOHN L. SULLIVAN. 


Made May 6th, 1826. 


Read, and laid upon the table. 


Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 


REPORT: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of John Thomas and John L. Sullivan, respectfully report : 

That the said John Thomas represents in the said petition, that 
he has invented certain improvements in the building of ships—in 
framing them so as to prevent decay—in planking, and in various 
other respects; and that he is also the inventor of certain labor saving 
machines, and of improvements in Rail way Docks, for many of 
which said inventions and improvements he alleges that he has 
obtained patents from the United States. He further states, that 
some of these inventions and improvement (have been used in the 
naval service of the United States, and that they are all of great utility 
and deserving of the patronage of Congress. He prays that Congress 
would grant him some equitable compensation for the use and benefit 
of his patented improvements, and for the remainder of the term to 
which his exclusive privileges extend, if they shall be found from 
experience to be of utility. And the said John L. Sullivan, who 
alleges that he is interested in the said application, joins with the said 
Thomas in the said petition. 

The said petition is unaccompanied with any proofs or authentic 
documents relative to the allegations therein contained, and the 
Committee recommend to the House the following resolution: 

Resolved , That the Committee on Naval Affairs be discharged from 
the further consideration of the said petition, and that the petitioners 
have leave to withdraw their petition. 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


181 


JAMES R. DURAND. 


Made May 6, 1826. 


Read, and laid on the table. 


Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
and papers of James R. Durand, respectfully report : 

That the said James R. Durand represents that he was a seaman 
enlisted into the service of the United States, in the year 1804, for 
the term of two years; that he served out the said time, and for some 
months afterwards, and returned from the Mediterranean service to 
the United States in the ship Constitution, in the fall of the year 1807, 
the said ship having then arrived at the port of Boston; that she was 
ordered round to New York, and the petitioner went on shore, the 
day before she sailed, and did not return to the ship before she left 
Boston on the next day; that he took passage on board a brig (the 
Betsy) bound to France, but intending to touch at New York; that 
she was blown off the coast and went direct to France. The peti¬ 
tioner now alleges that he did not intend to desert from the Constitu¬ 
tion, but that, on the night before the ship sailed, he was engaged in a 
frolic, outslept himself next morning, and in consequence thereof the 
Constitution sailed without him. 

The Committee are of opinion that it is not satisfactorily shown 
what the intention of the petitioner was in going ashore and absenting 
himself from the ship, and that it is not expedient to give any relief 
in this case by act of Congress, and recommend to the House the 
following resolution: 

Resolved , That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition 
and papers. 


DRY DOCKS. 


Mr. Bartlett, 
following 


Made May 8, 1826. 

Read, and laid on the table, 
from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the 
report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the com¬ 
munication from the Secretary of the Navy of the 30th of March last, 
relative to the expediency of constructing, at one or more of the 




182 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19th Congress, 


Navy Yards of the United States, a Dry Dock for receiving, examin¬ 
ing and repairing ships of war, report: 

That they deem the subject one of great importance to the interests 
of the nation. They coincide fully with the views of the Department, 
as to the necessity of the construction of Dry Docks, as well for con¬ 
venience as economy in the repairs and preservation of our Navy; 
but the Committee are of opinion that such work cannot with pro¬ 
priety be commenced, until more accurate and minute information 
shall be obtained of the proper location, extent & cost of such docks 
as our service may require. They therefore recommend the adoption 
of the following resolution: 

Note.—Joint Resolution Passed. 


Rep. No. 196. 

INCREASE OF THE MARINE CORPS. 


Made May 6, 1826. 

Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which the 
subject had been referred, made the following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, who were directed to inquire into 
the expediency of increasing and reorganizing the Marine Corps, 
respectfully report, in part: 

That the present number of privates in the Marine Corps authorized 
by law, (act of 3d March, 1817,) is seven hundred and fifty, and the 
distribution of the Corps is exhibited in the document accompanying 
this report, marked No. 1, C. Since this return was furnished, requi¬ 
sitions have been further made on the said Corps for men to serve 
in the Macedonian, Vincennes and Lexington, which are ordered to 
be fitted for sea. The Committee are of opinion that the public 
service indispensably requires that the number of privates in the said 
Corps should be augumented. The Marines now serving at the 
Navy Yard cannot be withdrawn from their duties without serious 
inconvenience and injury to the service, and the number of them 
now on duty at the said Yard, is not more than adequate to the 
duties required of and necessary to be performed there. The Com¬ 
mittee respectfully refer the House to the communication of the 
Secretary of the Department of the Navy, of the 3d of May instant, 
and the correspondence accompanying the same, as showing the 
urgent necessity of increasing the number of privates in the said 
Corps at this time. It does not appear to the Committee that the 
public interest requires any augmentation to the number of officers. 
They are of opinion that the additional number of 200 privates will 
be fully adequate to the demands of the service, and have directed a 
bill to be reported for that purpose. 

For Documents see printed Report No. 196. 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


183 


ERASTUS LOOMIS. 


Made March 23, 1826. 
Read, and laid on the Table. 


Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Erastus Loomis, respectfully report: 

That they have considered the subject referred to them, and find 
that the petitioner was a volunteer on board one of the armed vessels 
of the United States at the battle of Lake Champlain, in the year 1814; 
that he was wounded in the said action, tho’ he shortly after recovered 
from the said wound, and his gallantry in the said action is highly 
spoken of by his superior officers. He alleges in his petition, that, 
by a disease consequent upon the said wound and produced by it, he 
is disabled, and prays that a pension may be granted to him. The 
Committee are of opinion, from a careful examination of the papers, 
that it is not satisfactorily shown that the disorder of which the 
petitioner complains, was the consequence of the said wound, and 
they recommend to the House the following resolution. 

Resolved, That the petitioner have leave to withdiaw his petition. 
















* 





NINETEENTH CONGRESS, SECOND 
SESSION. 


In the House of Representatives 

of the United States, 

December 6, 1826. 

A Committee on Naval Affairs was appointed, pursuant to the 
standing rules and orders of the House, consisting or 


Mr. Storrs, Chairman. 
Mr. Holcombe, 

Mr. Bartlett, 

Mr. Dorsey, 

Mr. Markley, 

Mr. Johnson, of K’y, & 
Mr. Sands. 


Members. 


WILLIAM THOMPSON. 


December 27, 1826. 
Read and laid on the table. 


Mr. Storrs, fTom the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred, on the 18th 
of December, 1826, the petition of William Thompson, respectfully 
report: 

That the petitioner was, by an act of the last session of Congress, 
placed on the pension list of the Navy pension fund, in consequence 
of a disability incurred from wounds while he was engaged on board 
the Revenue Cutter Louisiana; that, by the construction given to 
that act at the Navy Department, the pension of the petitioner is 
construed to commence from the date of the passage or the law for 
his relief. He now prays that a law may be passed granting him his 
pension to commence from the time of his disability. The Corn- 

185 






186 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19th Congress, 


mittee are of opinion that the construction which has been put on 
the act of the last session is correct, and that it would be inexpedient 
to grant the prayer of the petitioner. They, therefore, recommend 
to the House the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition 
and papers. 


THOMAS DOUTY. 


January 9, 1827. 


M' Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 


REPORT! 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred, by a reso¬ 
lution of the House of the 27th of December last, the expediency of 
directing the Secretary of the Navy to pay unto Thomas Douty the 
sum of S19 T Vo for his share of prize money while engaged as an 
artilleryman on board the frigate Macedonian, in the year 1815, 
respectfully report: 

That by the papers accompanying this report, it appears that the 
amount of $ 19 T Vo is due to the said Thomas Douty, for prize money 
and therefore direct a bill for paying the same to be reported to the 
House. 


GRADUAL INCREASE OF THE NAVY. 


January 5, 1827. 


Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, who were instructed by a reso¬ 
lution of the House, on the 19th day of December last, to inquire 
into the expediency of passing an act to appropriate, annually, the 
sum of 500,000 dollars to the gradual increase of the Navy, from and 
after the first day of January, 1827, report: 

That they have considered the subject referred to them by the said 
resolution, and that it is, in their opinion, expedient to continue the 
appropriation of that sum, annually, for the period of six years, for 






2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


187 


the purpose of completing the ships alredy authorized to be built; 
and for providing timber and other materials for the use of the Navy, 
and they have directed a bill for that purpose to be reported to the 
House. 


ZEBULON WADE. 


January 17, 1827. 


Read, and laid on the table. 


Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Zebulon Wade, respectfully report: 

That the petitioner states, while engaged, in the year 1809, in the 
line of his duty as a seaman on board of the Sloop Despatch, under 
the command of William Patterson, in the pay and service of the 
United States, he was disabled by a wound received from the bursting 
of a cannon on board said Sloop, and he prays that a pension may be 
granted to him for such disability. It does not appear to the Com¬ 
mittee, from the papers submitted, what the character of the vessel 
particularly was, but they think it is fairly inferrable from the 
papers that such Sloop was attached to the Custon House as a 
revenue cutter. It satisfactorily appears from the documents, that 
the wound of the petitioner was received while firing a salute in 
Sheepscot River, on the 4th day of March, 1809, in honor of that 
da} r , under the direction of the Commanding officer of said Revenue 
Boat. This petition was first presented to the House of Representa¬ 
tives on the 7th day of June, 1809, and again referred to a Committee 
of the House on the 9th day of February, 1810, who reported against 
the prayer of the petition, and the House acted on the said report, 
and the claim was rejected. It was again referred to a Committee 
of the House on the 20th day of January, 1811, and on the 7th of 
April thereafter leave was given to the petitioner to withdraw his 
papers on the recommendation of the Committee. The Committee 
are of opinion for the reasons stated in the report on this claim on the 
9th day of February, 1810, that it is inexpedient to extend relief 
specially to the case of the petitioner, and they respectfully refer 
the House to that report, and recommend to the House the adoption 
of the following resolution: 

Resolved, That it is not expedient to provide by law for a pension 
to be granted to Zebulon Wade for the disability incurred by him 
on board the Sloop Despatch, on the 4th day of March, 1809, and 
that he have leave to withdraw his petition and papers. 




188 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19TH CONGRESS, 


JAMES BUTLER. 


January 17, 1827. 

Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was 
referred the petition of James Butler, made the following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of James Butler, respectfully report: 

That the petitioner states that while a seaman on board the U. S. 
ship Independence, in the year 1816, and in the line of his duty, he 
incurred a disability by rupture while in the discharge of his duty 
as such seaman under the command of Captain William Bainbridge; 
that he has applied to the Department of the Navy to be placed on 
the pension list under the laws of the United States, which provide 
for pensions in such cases, but that his claim lias been rejected for the 
want of the certificate of the surgeon and Captain of the said ship, 
which are required by the rules and regulations established in the 
said Department for the allowance of pensions to disabled seamen. 
The Committee are of opinion, that in the absence of such certifi¬ 
cates, the proof adduced on the part of the petitioner, is not so 
clearly satisfactory of the facts alleged as to justify the Committee 
in recommending to the House a special act for his relief, and they 
recommend to the House the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition. 


Rep. No. 47. 

SURGEONS OF THE NAVY. 


January 17, 1827. 

Read, and ordered to lie on the table. 

Mr. Bartlett, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which the 
subject had been referred, made the following 

report: 

The the Committee on Naval Affairs, who were instructed by a 
resolution of the 10th of January, 1827, “to inquire into the expediency 
of making such alterations and improvements, as the public service 
may require, in the Medical Department of the Navy,” report: 

That, early in the last session of Congress, the attention of the 
Committee was directed to the subject of this inquiry, and there was 
no diversity of opinion, as to the importance and necessity of altera¬ 
tions and improvements in the organization of the Medical Depart¬ 
ment of the Naval service. 




2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


189 


The Committee were of opinion, that further legislative regulations 
were necessary in relation to the appointments, the promotions, 
duties, and compensation of surgeons and assistant surgeons in the 
Navy. Other improvements in the organization of the Naval 
Establishment were deemed by the Committee not less important 
than that which forms the immediate subject of the present inquiry. 
They therefore reported ‘‘a bill concerning the Naval Establishment,” 
in which, with other provisions, that it was believed the service de¬ 
manded, was embraced the subject of this resolution. In relation to 
which, that bill provides, generally. 

1st. Concerning appointments, promotions, and duties: That no 
person shall be appointed Assistant Surgeon in the Navy, unless he 
shall have been examined and approved by a board of three or more 
Surgeons of the Navy, designated by the Secretary of the Navy 
Department; and no person shall be appointed a Surgeon, until he 
shall have been commissioned an Assistant Surgeon three years, 
and have served at least two years as such, at sea on board a public 
vessel; and shall also have been examined and approved, as in case 
of Assistant Surgeons. It also provided for the appointment, from 
the Surgeons of the Navy, to every fleet, or squadron, of an experi¬ 
enced Surgeon to be denominated the Surgeon of the fleet; and makes 
it his duty to examine and approve the requisitions, and inspect the 
quality of medicines and hospital stores; and, in difficult cases, to 
consult with the Surgeons of the several ships; make records of the 
character and treatment of diseases, and make particular and peri¬ 
odical reports of the same; and to perform all duty appropriate to 
his station, under the direction of the Navy Department. 

2d. Concerning compensations: That the Surgeons and Assistant 
Surgeons of the Navy shall receive one ration a day each; and that 
the monthly pay of Surgeons shall be in proportion to the time they 
have been in the public service, as Surgeons, viz: a surgeon, who shall 
have served less than five years, as such, sixty dollars a month, which, 
after the first five years’ service, shall be increased at the rate of ten 
dollars a month for every additional term of five years: Provided, 
that the highest rate of pay shall not exceed one hundred dollars a 
month and one ration a day, excepting the Surgeon of the fleet. 
That an Assistant Surgeon, ^before being passed for promotion, as 
Surgeon, shall, while in service, receive forty dollars per month; 
and after being so passed, fifty dollars a month; and when serving 
on board vessels of war, having no other medical officer on board, 
an Assistant Surgeon shall be allowed ten dollars a month, in addition 
to the pay aforesaid. And that a Surgeon of the fleet, while in 
service, as such, shall receive, in addition to the other compensation 
allowed to Surgeons, and not subject to the same limitation, an 
allowance of twenty dollars a month; and prohibits any other allow¬ 
ance, or compensation for any purpose, to be made to either of said 
grades. The Committee, in‘ adopting the provisions embraced in 
that bill, considered the present law defective; in that it does not 
require anv examination of Surgeons and Assistant Surgeons, pre¬ 
vious to appointment, or any term of service previous to appoint¬ 
ments to the highest grade; nor does it require the duties which are 
recommended for Surgeons of the fleet, or graduate the pay by the 
time of service, or, in the opinion of the Committee, allow a sufficient 
compensation to those who have spent much of their life in the service 


190 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19th Congress, 


of their country; but, as the provisions deemed expedient by the 
Committee are embraced in the bill before the Committee of the 
Whole House, the Committee recommend the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the Committee on Naval Affairs be discharged from 
the further consideration of the resolution, of the 10th of January, 
respecting the Medical Department of the Navy. 


GRATIA RAY, WIDOW OF WILLIAM RAY. 


January 19, 1827. 


Read, and laid upon the table. 


Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 


report : 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Gratia Ray, widow of William Ray, deceased, respectfully report: 

That the Memorialist states, that her late husband was taken 
prisoner by the Tripolines at the capture of the U. S. Frigate Phila¬ 
delphia, and suffered greatly in his health from his captivity, and left 
all the property which he had on board the said ship; that he has 
since deceased, and left her with several children destitute of support, 
and she prays that Congress would make to her and her family some 
compensation for these sufferings and losses. 

The Committee are of opinion that it would be inexpedient to grant 
the prayer of the petition, and establish thereby a precedent which 
must prove to be very extensive in its application, and which, the 
Committee believe, has never been sanctioned heretofore by Congress. 
They recommend therefore the following resolution: 

Resolved , That the petitioner have leave to withdraw her petition. 


Rep. No. 56. 

COMMUNICATION ACROSS THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA. 


January 24th, 1827. 

Read, and, with the bill, committed to a Committee of the Whole 
House to-morrow. 


Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 


report: 


Accompanied by a bill to authorize the building of two schooners 
for the Naval service, and for rebuilding the schooner Nonsuch. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred a resolution 
instructing them to inquire into the expediency of establishing a line 
of communication, from some port or place in the United States, 





REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


2d Session.] 


191 


across the Isthmus of Panama, to some port or ports on the Pacific 
Ocean, report: 

That they have taken the subject under consideration, and are 
fully convinced of the expediency of establishing the proposed line of 
communication. The increasing importance of the various nations 
bordering upon that ocean, and our increased commerce with those 
nations, are highly interesting to every portion of the Union. Our 
trade on the Northwest Coast—our extensive whale fishery, all 
demand the vigilance of Government—and the Government duly 
estimating the interests of the country, have wisely stationed a por¬ 
tion of our Navy in that ocean, to protect our property and preserve 
our rights. Without entering into a particular consideration of the 
situation and Governments of the various nations in the Pacific, 
including the islands as well as the Main, with whom we have inter¬ 
course, it may be proper to say, that no Navy could be placed in a 
situation so responsible, and where the officers would so much need 
the instruction of the Government. Indeed, it is desirable at all 
times, that our Navy should act under the immediate instruction of 
the Executive, as far as practicable, and that as little be left to the 
discretion of the officers as circumstances will allow. Cases may, and 
will no doubt occur, which will throw great responsibility upon our 
Naval Commanders, affecting national interest and honor. Where 
such responsibility cannot be avoided it must be assumed; and, while 
we are disposed to place merited confidence in our Naval officers, we 
are disposed to relieve them as far as possible, from a responsibility, 
which necessity alone would induce them to assume or us to allow. 
This object can be effected only by affording opportunity to instruct 
them from time to time, as circumstances and the changes in events 
may demand. 

Our Navy in the Pacific usually cruizes from Valparaiso, on the 
South, to Callao, on the North, and sometimes extending much 
beyond those points. The ordinary length of a passage from the 
United States to Valparaiso, round Cape Horn, is from eighty to 
one hundred and twenty days; it therefore requires from six to eight 
months to send a letter to or from the squadron, and receive an 
answer. From this great delay and circuitous voyage, it is certainly 
desirable, if practicable, to obtain relief. It is important to the 
nation, that the Government should be able to send dispatches and 
orders to our Naval forces, in as short a period as practicable, and it is 
practicable to facilitate and shorten our communication by the 
route named across the Isthmus of Panama, so that instead of requir¬ 
ing six or eight months to receive information, and give instructions, 
it may be effected in ninety days. 

It is contemplated to establish a line of vessels to run from some 
port in the United States to the Isthmus. A passage from the 
Chesapeake to the Isthmus may be estimated at 15 or 20 days. 
The journey across the Isthmus from Chagres to Panama, 36 hours; 
a passage from Panama to Valparaiso, 30 or 35 days; and from Val¬ 
paraiso back again to Panama, about 25; or, should Lima be fixed 
upon, a passage from Panama to Lima may be estimated at, and 
return passage to Panama, 24 or 30 days. Instructions might ordi¬ 
narily be sent from the Chesapeake to Lima, or Valparaiso, in 40 or 
50 days, and return in about the same period, being much less than 
half the time at present required, saving more than 4 months. The 


192 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19 th Congress, 


time required upon the Pacific in a passage from Panama to Valparaiso, 
and from the Chesapeake to Panama, would be about the same, so 
that if a communication were kept up between the United States and 
Valparaiso, and Panama made the place of departure, there would be 
little delay; whenever a vessel arrived from the United States to 
Panama, a vessel would be there ready to sail, and when a vessel 
returned from Valparaiso to Panama, a vessel would be ready to sail 
to the United States. To effectuate this object, four vessels would 
be required; two on this side to communicate with the United States, 
and two in the Pacific. It is recommended that the vessels employed 
be schooners of a large class, because the dispatches they might be 
charged with would be important, and their freight valuable. Such 
vessels would afford great security, not only to whatever might be 
entrusted to their charge, but also to our commerce against piracies. 
Indeed, if protection against piracy be our sole object, the vessels in 
question would be suitable, and the passage on both sides in the very 
place where we are most likely to be infested, so that these vessels 
would effect the double object of protection against piracy, and the 
carrying despatches and whater else might be deemed expedient. 

The importance of the measure cannot escape the notice of anyone, 
as affording a direct communication with our Ministers and agents in 
the South American Governments. 

We may be permitted to add, that the contemplated communica¬ 
tion would afford great facilities to our commerce in the Pacific and 
to our whale fishery. Interests of no small value which we trust are 
increasing and will continue to increase-—interests which affect every 
part of the country, whether engaged in agriculture, commerce, or 
manufactures. These valuable interests have been protected by our 
Navy, and the wisdom of such protection has not been questioned; 
they are not to be overlooked in examining the advantages which 
may result from the proposed measure, which is intended, primarily 
and principally, to facilitate our intercourse with the Navy. 

Nor can we forget, that those who are stationed in our Navy, as well 
as those in our whale ships, and others, amounting to thousands, are 
separated from friends for years. To afford such facilities to send to and 
receive letters from their friends and owners, would be desirable and 
beneficial, as it would afford means of information and instruction as 
well as gratification, and if even a trifle were allowed for such pur¬ 
pose, it would accord with the policy of the country of affording mails 
m some cases, at a very considerable expense to the Government. 

But the leading object in view is to improve our Navy, by keeping 
up a connection with the parts; to afford facilities for supplying the 
wants of the squadron in the Pacific; in making timely and proper 
application of funds for its support; in giving instructions and orders. 
These objects are deemed important in point of economy, as well as 
conducing to the honor and interest of the nation. 

The Committee therefore report a bill. 


Sir, 


Navy Department, 

13th January, 1826. 


In your letter of the 22d December, you enclose a resolution of the 
House of Representatives of the 19th, instructing the Committee on 
Naval Affairs “to inquire into the expediency of establishing a line of 



2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


193 


communication between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the 
Isthmus of Panama;” and you ask the opinion of the Department 
“as to the utility of the proposed communication, the facility of its 
establishment, the most advantageous and economical mode or effect¬ 
ing the object.” 

The opinion of the Department, that this communication should 
be established, was decidedly expressed in the report to the President, 
which accompanied his message at the commencement of the session, 
and to which I refer you. 

The usual cruising ground of the American Squadron in the Pacific 
Ocean, is, from Valparaiso on the South, to Callao on the north; 
sometimes, however, extending much beyond those points in both 
directions. 

The ordinary length of a passage from the United States to Val¬ 
paraiso, round Cape Horn, is from 80 to 120 days. It therefore 
requires from six to eight months to send a letter to or from the 
squadron and receive an answer. If a correspondence between the 
Government and the commanding officer be necessary, it is desirable 
that this period should be shortened. 

It is always of high importance to the nation that the Government 
should possess the means of communicating rapidly its views and 
orders to those who command its forces abroad, and who are often 
obliged to act in cases affecting the public honor and interest. No 
where do such cases arise more frequently than in the Pacific Ocean. 
Our interests there are immense, and every thing in the Government, 
the people and the forces, which operate upon those interests, 
unsettled and subject to rapid and violent changes, producing con¬ 
stant danger and repeated injuries. 

Questions of doubt and difficulty, which cannot be foreseen, are 
incessantly occurring, upon which it is natural that the commanding 
officer should desire to be instructed, and upon which it is the interest 
of the Government that instructions should be given. But in the 

E resent dilatory, and uncertain mode of conveyance, they cannot 
e asked for and received until they are often useless, the officer 
having been compelled to act in ignorance of the views of the Gov¬ 
ernment, and perhaps in violation of its wishes. Communications 
to and from him are frequently necessary respecting the discipline 
and economy of the force under his command, which, being imprac¬ 
ticable, leave a painful responsibility upon him, and sometimes 
injury to the service is the result. 

Inconveniences also arise in supplying the wants of the squadron, 
and in making a timely and proper application of funds for its sup¬ 
port, which might be avoided by a shorter, more uniform, and period¬ 
ical mode of conveyance. Many expenses might be saved, and the 
squadron supplied more economically. 

The convenience, also, and comfort of the officers in the squadron, 
is worthy of attention and regard. Separated for years, at such an 
immense distance from their country and friends, and from the scene 
of their private interests, it becomes the Government to interfere in 
their favor, and relieve them, as far as possible, from the unpleas¬ 
antness of their situation, by affording them the means of frequent 
intercourse by letter, by which many injuries and much uneasiness 
might be avoided. 

39889—10-13 


194 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19th Congress, 


Although the considerations be not peculiarly connected with this 
Department, it may be correct to add, that the proposed communi¬ 
cation would be extremely useful to the Government, by facilitating 
its intercourse with several of our public political Agents, and to the 
whole mercantile community, by rendering the commercial corre¬ 
spondence with that portion of South America, and the means of 
transferring funds of every description, more speedy and certain. 

The advantages which would result to the commerce in every 
part of the Pacific Ocean; to our intercourse with the Northwest 
Coast, and even with China, by shortening the time of sending and 
receiving advices, three or four months, would be immense. There 
is no danger that you will value this last mentioned advantage too 
highly. Its importance is every hour increasing in magnitude and 
will be most sensibly felt, in the augmented revenue and commerce, 
which it will occasion. But it does seem proper in me to pursue this 
consideration. 

The passage from the Chesapeake to the Isthmus, may be estimated 
at fifteen to twenty days and the return passage from 15 to 20 days. 
The journey across the Isthmus from Chagres to Panama at 36 hours. 
The passage from Panama to Valparaiso at thirty to thirty-five days, 
and from Valparaiso to Panama at about twenty-five days. Should 
Lima be fixed upon as the point of departure in the Pacific, the 
passage from that place to Panama may be estimated at 15, and the 
return passage at 24 to 30 days. Allowing, therefore, for no unusual 
delays, a package may be sent by this route from the Chesapeake to 
Lima and Valparaiso, in between 40 and 50 days, and a return made 
in about the same period, being much less than one half the time now 
consumed in the operation. 

It will be prudent, in the first instance, to establish this communi¬ 
cation between some port in the Chesapeake, say Baltimore or 
Annapolis and Lima. Should experience prove it to be advisable, it 
can hereafter be extended to Valparaiso, the vessel touching, in its 
passage, at the intermediate towns. The average time which it will 
take to reach Panama from the points mentioned will be very nearly 
the same, and, by arranging properly the period of starting, and 
making that the place of meeting, there will seldom be much delay 
in effecting an interchange of the letters which may be carried in each 
direction. The Consul, or other Agent of the United States, under 
such instructions as may be given, will furnish the necessary means 
both of safety and expedition. 

It is not believed that any impediment will arise from the Gov¬ 
ernment of the country through which the communication is to be 
made. On the contrary there is the strongest confidence that every 
facility will be afforded by it which may be called for by our interests 
or our wishes. 

To execute the proposed plan, it will be necessary to have two 
vessels on each side of the Isthmus. These may be either small, 
but fast sailing schooners, of 60 or 70 tons, or schooners of a larger 
class, carrying 12 guns, like the Shark and Porpoise. My own opinion 
is decidedly in favor of the latter, for three reasons: 

# 1st. They are safer from all dangers, both common and extraor¬ 
dinary—of the sea and of enemies; against these dangers it is wise to 
guard. They will always carry despatches of importance, and some¬ 
times offer temptations to plunder by the value and nature of their 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


195 


freight. Under such circumstances it would not be pleasant to have 
them rifled and destroyed. 

2nd. They will be under the direction of this Department, be 
commanded by Naval officers; and form essentially a part of the 
Navy. Like other vessels, they should be useful in training our 
officers and seamen. But if less than the size proposed, they cannot 
answer that purpose. Discipline cannot be preserved in them, nor 
can the officers or men be properly instructed in seamanship and 
their respective duties. Experience has sufficiently taught us, that 
smaller vessels are expensive, injurious to correct habits, and destruc¬ 
tive of subordination and discipline. 

3rd. They ought not to be merely packets for carrying despatches, 
but vessels of war, ready and able to render protection to our inter¬ 
ests, when they find them assailed. Their route throughout its 
whole course in Doth oceans, but especially in the Pacific, will be where 
our commerce needs protection; and they will be likely to fall in 
with pirates and others, who interrupt our ships; their force should 
therefore be competent to any ordinary call which may be made 
upon it. 

The exepnse of executing the plan will depend in some degree upon 
the vessels which may be selected. 

We have no small schooner suited to this object. But, should this 
class of vessels be selected, they ought to be provided with two com¬ 
petent officers, and six or seven hands, and two or more spare berths 
to accommodate the messenger, and any passengers to whom the 
Government might see fit to furnish a conveyance to the Pacific. 
Their original cost may be estimated at $4,500 each, their annual 
expense at $3,500, and the expense of the messenger at $2,000. 

Should the opinion which I entertain be considered the best, it will 
be necessary to build three additional schooners of twelve guns—two 
to be used in the Atlantic and one in the Pacific, the Dolphin which 
is now there being ordered on this service. 

I wish you to remark, however, that during the past year one of 
the small schooners attached to the West India Squadron was lost, 
and two others, with the Decoy, sold; and the Nonsuch, of twelve 
guns, became too much decayed to be repaired. Another ought to 
be built to supply her place, whether this communication be estab¬ 
lished or not. It ought not, therefore, to be charged with the neces¬ 
sity of building more than two of those which are proposed, nor with 
a large portion of the annual expense which may be found necessary 
to support the communication after it is established. 

The cost of these vessels will be $17,000 each, and their annual 
expense $16,500 each; an expense which would be more than com¬ 
pensated to the nation by one successful commercial enterprise, and 
by one important despatch being expedited to a political Agent, or 
the commanding officer of the squadron. 

The expense of sending the despatches across the Isthmus would 
be very small, if large schooners be adopted, as they might be pro¬ 
vided with boats which could be sent up the river from Chagres to 
Cruses, and one of the officers of the vessel be entrusted with the 
despatches to Panama. 

I am not aware of the necessity of any Legislative act on this 
subject except to authorize the building or purchasing of the vessels, 
and such an appropriation as will meet the demands of the year— 


196 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19th Congress, 


say $51,000 for building the vessels, $49,500 for their support, and 
$3,000 for contingent expenses. The annual expense of the vessels 
which will be employed in this operation may hereafter be embraced 
in the general appropriation bills. 

I have the honor to be, 

Very respectfully, &’c. 

Samuel L. Southard. 

Honorable Henry R. Storrs, 

Chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs, House of Rep? 


Rep. No. 69. 
ABIGAIL APPLETON. 


February 3, 1827. 

Mr. Bartlett, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was 
referred the petition of Abigail Appleton, made the following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Abigail Appleton, report: 

That the petitioner represents that she is the widow of Daniel 
Appleton, late of Ipswich, in Massachusetts; that her late husband 
was a seaman on board of the United States’ sloop of war Frolic, 
which sailed from Boston on the 18th of February, 1814, under 
Captain Bainbridge, and was taken prisoner, carried to Halifax, and 
thence to England, and committed to the Dartmoor prison, where 
he died, on the 4th of January, 1815. 

The petitioner further represents, that she has made application to 
the Navy Department, for five years’ half pay, under the provisions 
of the acts of Congress of January 20, 1813, March 4, 1814, and April 
16, 1818, which relate to the subject of pensions to the Orphans and 
widows of persons slain in the public or private armed vessels of the 
United States; and that the Department has expressed an opinion 
that her claim does not come within the letter of those statutes. 
The facts stated in the memorial of the petitioner are fully and 
distinctly proved; and the Committee do not hesitate to express an 
opinion, that her claim is clearly within the spirit and purpose of 
the laws referred to, and therefore report a bill to give her five years’ 
half pay from the Privateer Pension Fund. 


Treasury Department, 
Fourth Auditor’s Office, 4th January, 1827. 

Sir, 

I have the honor to transmit to you, herewith, certificates con¬ 
taining the information requested in your letter, of the 2d inst. 
addressed to Mr. Gillis, of this office. The act of April 16, 1818, 



2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


197 


provides, “if any officer, seaman, or marine, shall have died since 
Jan. 18, 1812, in consequence of accident or casualty, which occurred 
while in the line of his duty, on board any public or private armed 
ship, leaving a widow, she shall be allowed the same monthly pay as if 
he died of wounds.” The only doubt in the mind of the Secretary of 
the Navy, was, whether death in a prison of the enemy was the same 
as death on board the ship. 

I have the honor to be, 

Respectfully, Sir, 

Your Obedient Servant, 


T. Watkins. 


Hon. John Varnum, 


House of Representatives. 


I certify, that it appears from documents on file in this office, that 
Daniel Appleton, a seaman on board the United States’ ship Frolie, 
born at Ipswich, Mass, was captured in the said ship, in April, 1814, 
carried to Dartmoor prison, in England, and there died, on the 4th 
day of January, 1815. 

T. Watkins. 

Treasury Department, 

Fourth Auditor’s Office, 5th Jany. 1827. 


The U. S. Sloop of War Frolic, under the command of Master 
Commandant Joseph Bainbridge, sailed on a cruise from Boston, 
on the 10th of February, 1814, and was captured near the Coast of 
Cuba on the 20th of April, following, by the British frigate Orpheus, 
Captain Hugh Pigot, and the British schooner Shelburne, Lieut. 
Hope. 

Navy Department, January 4 th 1827. 

I certify that the truth of the above statement is sustained by 
documents on file in this Department. 

John Boyle. 


LT. FREDERICK W. SMITH. 


February 5th, 1827. 

Read, and ordered to lie. 

Mr. Holcombe, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom the 
subject was referred, made the following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Frederick W. Smith, a Lieutenant in the Navy of the United 
States, report: 

In the spring of the year 1815, Lt. Smith represents, that, whilst 
employed in recruiting men for the Sloop of War Ontario, one of 





198 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19th Congress, 


Com. Decatur’s Squadron destined to Algiers, and whilst in the act 
of taking a draft of men on board the said sloop, he lost overboard, in 
a gale of wind, his pocket book containing money and vouchers to 
the amount of eight hundred dollars and upwards; that in con¬ 
sequence of his inability to account for the same to the proper depart¬ 
ment, his pay was suspended until the whole of the balance against 
him was discharged. He therefore prays Congress to pass such an 
act as will cause to be refunded to him the full sum, which he has been 
compelled to make good as a defaulter. 

The Committee have examined carefully the petition and docu¬ 
ments, submitted to them, and, granting that Lieut. Smith lost his 
Pocket Book, at the time, and in the manner represented, yet they 
regard it inexpedient, and unsafe, and a departure from the estab¬ 
lished usages of Congress to afford relief in cases of the loss of public 
funds, by public agents, except under extraordinary circumstances. 
No such circumstances sustain the present claim. 

The Committee, therefore, submit the following resolution: 

Resolved , That the prayer of the petitioner be not granted. 


URIAH BROWN. 


February 9th, 1827. 


Read, and ordered to lie. 


Mr. Bartlett, from the Committee on Naval Affairs made the 
following 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the report 
of the Secretary of the Navy upon so much of the petition of Uriah 
Brown as relates to his system of annoyance and destruction of an 
enemy, to be used in the Naval Service, report the following resolu¬ 
tion: 

Resolved, That it is not expedient, at this time, to adopt any 
further legislative measures in relation to the application of Uriah 
Brown. 


Navy Department, 

6 February, 1827. 

In answer to the Resolution of House of Representatives, of the 
29th December, referring “so much of the petition of Uriah Brown as 
“relates to his system of annoyance and destruction of an enemy, to 
“be used in the Naval Service, to the Secretary of the Navy to report 
“his opinion thereupon to the House”;—the Secretary of the Navy 
has the honor to communicate copy of a letter from the Commissioners 
of the Navy, and respectfully to state, that it is not possible without 
further opportunity of examination to make such an inquiry into the 
principles of M r . Brown’s “plan and system of annoyance” as would 
justify an official recommendation of it by the Department. Such 





2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


199 


inquiry can only be made, in a satisfactory manner, by comparing the 
theory on which he relies with an inspection of the model and means 
which he uses, aided by actual experiment. With the lights before 
the Department at this time, and ignorant of the expense whjch 
would be incurred, except as it is stated by the petitioner, no decisive 
opinion can be given of the propriety of authorizing such examination 
and experiment to be made. 

Respectfully submitted. 

Samuel L. Southard. 

The Speaker of the House 
or Representatives. 


Navy Comm™. Office, 

6th January, 1827. 

Sir: The Board of Navy Commissioners have received your letter 
of the 4th inst. with a Resolution of the House of Representatives 
upon the Memorial of Mr. Uriah Brown, and they have examined 
Mr. Brown’s drawings and delineations of his system of annoyance 
and destruction, &c. 

The known means of annoying an enemy are so numerous, that 
whatever merit may justly belong to Mr. Brown’s invention, the 
Commissioners could not take upon themselves the responsibility of 
recommending an experiment at an expense so considerable as that 
stated by Mr. Brown. 

The papers which accompanied your letter are herewith returned. 

I have the honor to be, &c. &c., 

W. Bainbridge. 

Hon. Samuel L. Southard, 

Secretary of the Navy. 


ISAAC P. DAVIS. 


February 27, 1827. 
Read, and ordered to lie. 


Mr. Bartlett, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made 
lowing 


report: 


the fol- 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Isaac P. Davis, report: 

That the petitioner prays for an allowance to be made to him in 
consequence of a difference of opinion between himself and the Board 
of Navy Commissioners, in the construction of a Contract, which the 
petitioner entered into to furnish cordage for the United States, at 
Charlestown. The facts appear by the accompanying documents, 
and the Committee do not deem it necessary to recapitulate them. 

The subject is a proper one for the decision of the Board of Navy 
Commissioners, and they have decided against the claim of the 
petitioner. 



200 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


. [19th Congress, 


If any complaint were to be made of the negotiations of that Board 
with the petitioner it would not be for a want of liberality and indul¬ 
gence toward the petitioner. 

The Committee recommend the following resolution: 

Resolved, That Isaac P. Davis have leave to withdraw his petition. 


Rep. No. 74. 

DESTRUCTION OF THE FRIGATE PHILADELPHIA. 


February 7, 1827. 

Mr. Storrs, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was 
recommitted the “bill to compensate Susan Decatur, widow and 
representative of Captain Stephen Decatur, and others,” made the 
following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was recommitted the 
“bill to compensate Susan Decature, widow and representative of 
Captain Stephen Decature, deceased, and others,” and to whom was 
also referred the petition of Mary Preble, widow of Captain Edward 
Preble, deceased, respectfully report : 

That they have again had the said bill under their consideration, 
and reviewed its provisions—particularly in that respect which pre¬ 
scribes the rule of distributing the sum granted to the officers and 
men of the Intrepid, for their good conduct and gallantry in accom¬ 
plishing the destruction of the frigate Philadelphia. 

They have the more carefully re-examined this subject, as the 
novel principle has been asserted and attempted to be sustained by 
argument in the professional opinions submitted to the house at the 
last session, that the officers and men of the Intrepid are entitled, 
under the prize act, to receive from the Government the full value 
of the Philadelphia, as a vested right in them as her captors. In the 
report (accompanying the bill) presented to the House on the 21st 
day of January, 1826, the Committee distinctly disavowed the 
doctrine on which that claim seemed to be founded. As the principles 
assumed in support of their right to remuneration in the character of 
captors, for the value of that ship, involve the interests of the Navy 
as well as the Government, the Committee deem it to be their duty 
to both, to express to the House their opinion more at large on the 
question of prize property, as between the Captors in the public 
ships and their own Government. 

If this was a national question between the Government of the 
United States and a Foreign power or its subjects, belligerent or 
neutral, to be settled by the public law, which has established the 
rules for determining the transfer of property in prize from one 
belligerent to another, the principles which must govern the decision 
of such a case have been correctly stated and well illustrated in the 
legal opinions offered by the memorialist. The Captor, either in a 



2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


201 


public or private armed vessel, who seizes under the authority of the 
Government for the purpose of bringing the prize into port for 
adjudication, is deemed, in relation to others, to have such a power 
oyer the captured property, that he may be received in maritime 
tribunals to represent and sustain the belligerent right of the sovereign 
power under whose commission he acts. His inchoate interest in the 
prize is also recognized, for many purposes, even before adjudication; 
and as between one of two belligerent Powers and a third party it 
may be conceded that the right of property and possession is perfect, 
upon capture of an enemy’s ship, previous to condemnation in a prize 
Court. The decision of the Board of Commissioners under the 
Florida treaty, that the American Captors of British vessels during the 
late war with Great Britain, whose prizes had been seized or despoiled 
in Spanish ports, were entitled to demand indemnity from Spain, 
rests on these principles. The cases of the Mary Ford and L’lnvin- 
cible, decided in the Supreme Court of the United States, confirm 
the same doctrines; and the opinion of that tribunal, in the case of 
Josepha Secunda, is also supported by well established principles— 
that, in a case of capture, where the prize ship was brought by the 
belligerent party into a port of the United States or within its juris¬ 
diction, a forfeiture might be incurred for a violation of the revenue 
or navigation laws of the country. But, in the opinion of the Com¬ 
mittee, these principles, which have been so gravely pressed into the 
question, have no relation, analogy or applicability to the distribu¬ 
tion of the “proceeds” of prize property under the prize act, as 
between the captors and their own Government. It is not a question 
to be solved by the law of nations, but depends on the construction 
of an act of Congress, and the ascertainment, by its reasonable and 
fair interpretation, of the nature of the interest in prize property, or 
its proceeds, which has been granted by the Government to the 
Captors, conducting its naval force under its own authority and 
instructions as the Sovereign Power. 

It has been very justly said in one of these opinions, that the 
specific property in the prize itself, was not in the contemplation of 
Congress;” and in the other, that “by the law of nations, and 
independently of any statutory provision, all captures enure to the 
exclusive benefit of the Government.” They are of the nature of 
reprisals—acquisitions of war and accrue to the sovereign power, by 
who authority they are made and subject to its absolute disposal. 
This power over these acquisitions is held by all Governments for 
great public and political purposes, and to be exercised as it shall 
deem most conducive to* the national interests. In granting to others 
any interest whatever to be derived directly or remotely from them, 
it annexes to the gratuity such qualifications as it deems expedient, 
and any such interest accrues to Captors or others, at such times and 
on such conditions and contingencies only, as the Government shall 
prescribe at its own pleasure. Seizures by captures in the public 
ships peculiarly are made on behalf and as acquisitions to the Govern¬ 
ment. In the exercise of its unlimited discretion and guided by an 
enlightened policy, it has granted to the officers and men of the Navy 
a contingent interest which may vest and be perfected in them, as the 
Government may, or may not, in the exercise of its absolute control 
as the sovereign power over prize property, proceed to condemnation. 
The right of the Captors rests altogether on the prize act; and is not 


202 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19th Congress, 


to be extended by artificial implications not justified by its reason and 
policy, to the support of doctrines which might prove to be highly 
mischievous in practice to the national interests, and often embarras¬ 
sing and oppressive to the Government itself. The act declares, 
(U. S. Laws, vol. 3, page 360, section 5th,) that “the proceeds of all 
“ ships and vessels and the goods taken on board of them, which shall 
“be adjudged good prize, shall, when of equal or superior force to the 
“ vessel or vessels making the capture, be the sole property of the 
“Captors, and when of superior force shall be decided equally between 
“the United States and the officers, and men making the capture.’’ 
Independent of this grant, there is no well founded pretence that any 
others than the Government have any interest in prize property, or 
if it be asserted that they have, from whence have they derived it? 
In conferring on the Navy this interest, as the reward of valor and 
enterprise, which admits them to accede to the whole or to share and 
participate with the Government itself in the proceeds only after 
condemnation, it has never intended to divest itself of that essential 
attribute of sovereignty which secures its own exclusive control oyer 
prize property and its disposition as the great interests of the Nation 
may require. It has therefore qualified this expectant interest, 
arising from mere seizure under its instructions, and cautiously con¬ 
fined the gratuity to the proceeds after condemnation. The pervading 
error of the argument which has been offered by the counsel, consists 
in the assumption that, either by the public law or the construction 
of this act, the mere seizure not only confers but perfects in the 
captors an indifeasible right, to which the national interests are 
altogether subordinate and subservient. It is said that that “it was 
“never imagined that when the Congress superadded the solemnity of 
“condemnation as one of the requisites to the full and perfect enjoy- 
“ment of the fruits of prize, it was intended to make it the preliminary 
“requisite to the investiture of the right of property. By the terms of 
“ the act, it is made necessary for the purpose only of authorizing the 
“disposal of the prize, and the distribution of the prize money. The 
“ specific property in the prize itself, was in the contemplation of the 
“Legislature; they speak only of the proceeds and the distribution of 
“the prize money, resulting from the disposal of the prize after con- 
“ demnation; it is for this only, that the Captors are to wait the process 
“of regular adjudication.” This course of reasoning asserts in terms 
too unequivocal to be misunderstood, that the right of the captors 
attaches to them, as individuals, on the seizure, and that the only 
operation of condemnation and the prize act, is to come in aid of their 
vested interests for the mere purpose of distribution among them; 
that the solemnity of adjudication is rather ceremonial, to guard 
against irregularities and abuse on matters of prize, than a preliminary 
requisite to the investiture of their right in the property itself. If, 
however, it is not exclusively by the grant of the prize act itself that 
any interest whatever is conferred, the Committee are not aware upon 
what dicta asserted in any system of law, public or municipal, they 
can support any personal right at all in prize property. The Prize 
Act has not indeed any reference to their “ specific property in the prize 
“itself,” because it neither assumes or admits its existence. The 
“ argument is only justly applicable to the belligerent rights of the 
“ Government, as a sovereign Power, and it is true that by the enact- 
“ment of the prize act, “it never entered into the conception of 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


203 


“ Congress, to make any change in the rule of public law, by which the 
“ transfer of the property of prize, from one belligerent to the other, 
“ had been determined/’ but when it is immediately added, that “to 
“ have placed the rights of the officers and men of our own Navy upon a 
“ footing of equality with those of other nations, would have been not 
“ more injurious to the individuals, than a disparagement of the 
“ belligerent rights of the United States, as a Sovereign Power,” the 
argument merely protests against an inference drawn from its own 
error, and confounds the Sovereign right of the Government over 
prize property with the contingent interest which it has granted to 
the Captors. If the principles which have been advanced by the 
counsel could be successfully maintained, the character of the public 
armed ships, built, equipped and provided from the public Treasury, 
would be converted from some of their most important practical 

P urposes of war, into mere instruments of reprisal for the private 
enefit of those, who, in the regular discharge of duty, were appointed 
to conduct or employed to navigate them. Any disposition or release 
whatever of the acquisitions of war, even by treaty, before actual 
condemnation, would create a just claim on the Government, which 
is said to be for “indemnity, like that of insured upon insurer, in 
“ which it is utterly immaterial whether the property be qualified, and 
“require some ulterior process for its consummation, or be consummate 
“ to every practical purpose of perfect fruition.” 

The practice of the Government has not conformed to these new 
doctrines. The acts of June 25, 1798, and July 9, 1798, for the pro¬ 
tection of the commerce of the United States against French depreda¬ 
tions and authorizing the capture of French armed vessels and their 
goods and effects, conferred in express terms, an interest in the 
captors quite as indefeasible as that granted by the existing prize 
act of the 23d of April, 1800. The first prize act of March 2d, 1799, 
relating to seizures by the public ships, was not less explicit; and 
yet, by the treaty with France of the 30th day of September, 1800, 
and ratified on the 3d day of February, 1801, it was unconditionally 
stipulated, not only that all captured public ships (which, by the 
prize act of 1799, belonged exclusively to the Government,) but that 
all property then taken, and not definitely condemned, or which 
might be captured before the exchange of the ratifications, should be 
restored. The prize act of the 23d of April, 1800, had of course been 
in force for some time before the ratification of the treaty. In 
exercising this undoubted prerogative of sovereignty, it was not 
deemed necessary to consult the interests of captors nor did the 
Government provide them an indemnity. It is that the United 
States incurred a responsibility to France, (which was afterwards 
discharged by a large pecuniary compensation,) chiefly in consequence 
of condemnations made after the date of the treaty of property which 
they had absolutely stipulated to pay for, if not restored. In the 
various laws authorizing the issuing of letters of marque and reprisal, 
there has been some occasional though not essential variation of 
mere phraseology, but the act relating to the Tripolitan war, and 
authorizing the issuing of Commissions to private armed vessels, 
(being the first act of that kind passed after the French treaty, and 
the accession of Mr, Jefferson to the Presidency,) is remarkable for 
its accurate expression of the true doctrine on this subject. The 1st 
section (Laws U. S. Vol. 3, page 448,) declares that “any Tripolitan 


204 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19th Congress, 


11 vessel, goods, or effects, captured and brought into port by any 
11 private armed vessel of the United States, duly commissioned, may 
“ be adjudged good prize, and thereupon shall accrue to the owners, 
11 officers, and men, of the capturing vessel, &c.” 

The right of captors is of the nature of that acquired, under various 
statutes, by the officers of the customs on the seizure of property for 
violation of the revenue laws, and the power which the Government 
has vested in the Treasury Department for the remission of these 
forfeitures is analogous to that which the Government itself holds by 
the public law over prize property. This power of remission has not 
only been properly exercised by the Treasury Department after con¬ 
demnation, but the Government has directly interposed its power in 
other cases after seizure and prosecution, and released from forfeiture, 
by express legislative enactment, property to a vast amount without 
regard to any indemnity to the seizing officers. 

It seems to have been considered, in the opinions laid before the 
House, that when the prize vessel is of equal or superior force, there 
exists by force of the prize act, a peculiarly exclusive personal right 
to the property itself, not subject to the control of the Government, 
which in that case takes no share of the proceeds. The nature of 
these interests, however, is the same. In the one case the whole 
proceeds are granted only in opposition to the proportional or partial 
share allowed in the other. In both, it is granted in the proceeds 
only; and it is because it is no more in either than a grant from the 
Government, that it retains to itself a share of the avails without 
injustice to others. The property in the prize itself is solely in the 
Government and it therefore assumes the disposal of its proceeds. 

If the Committee have not mistaken the fair and reasonable inter¬ 
pretation of the prize act, it is scarcely more than supererogation to 
say that it confers no clain to remuneration, from the Government, 
for the destruction of the Philadelphia. The enterprise was under¬ 
taken with the sole view to her destruction. The officers voluntarily 
offered their services to effect that specifit object, and acted under 
orders for that express purpose. These orders were, to enter the 
harbor in the night, “board the Philadelphia” and ‘‘burn her.” She 
was accordingly “boarded, and, after a short contest, carried,” and 
“immediately fired.” The expedition can hardly be said to have 
been undertaken with a view to capture in the proper sense of the term, 
although it was contemplated that in effecting the destruction of the 
ship, the party would obtain possession of her. This possession was 
merely incidental to the chief object, and no reasonable or plausible 
construction of the prize act can extend it to such a case. The 11 case ” 
on which one of the Counsel has given an opinion, is thus stated: 
“An American Man-of-War having succeeded in effecting the capture 
of an enemy’s vessel of superior force—having entirely dispossessed 
the enemy and obtained undisputed possession, in obedience to 
peremptory orders, destroys the prize without bringing her into port, 
and before obtaining a decree of condemnation in a prize Court— 
have such Captors any legal claim to the value of the captured 
property as against the United States?” If to this statement it had 
been added that the capture was made without any intention to 
bring the vessel into port, or to obtain any decree of condemnation, 
and by a party who volunteered their services to destroy her only, 
the claim supposed to arise out of the destruction of the Philadelphia 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


205 


would have been more fully and accurately stated. If, in the judg¬ 
ment of Commodore Preble, the interests of the service required this 
enterprize to be undertaken for her destruction, it was his duty to 
issue these orders. The prize act is not to be construed in reference 
to speculations on the probabilities only of any result which might 
have taken place had the orders not been strictly obeyed. If, on 
mere capture, the right to the prize property or any share of it, 
indefeasibly vests in the captors, it might vest in them by force of 
the prize act not only collectively but individually. Yet it was not 
supposed, when the rewards were conferred in the cases of the 
Guerriere and Java, destroyed after capture by order of the Com¬ 
manding officers of the capturing ships, that the claim of the officers 
and men under their command, on the justice of Congress, was of the 
nature of a legal right secured by the prize act. It would be highly 
injurious to the interests of the country in time of war, to admit that 
“in every case in which captors have been prevented by the act 
“ (even) of the Government, or its lawfully authorized agents, from 
“ proceeding to adjudication, the fair and just interpretation of the 
“ statute entitles them to remuneration.” In answer to such a sugges¬ 
tion, the Committee respectfully refer the House to the report on the 
claim of the officers and men of the brig Argus, for remuneration for 
vessels and property destroyed on the cruize of that vessel under 
possitive instructions from the Government. If against a powerful 
enemy on the ocean, the policy or necessities of the country require 
the destructions of prizes, it is unquestionably the right and duty of 
the Government to qualify its instructions to the Navy for that end. 
Its authority is supreme in adapting its naval power to the exigencies 
of the Country, either for purposes of its own defence or the destruc¬ 
tion of the power and means of its enemy. The prize act has not so 
embarrassed the exercise of this authority as to bind the Government 
to compensation to its Navy, if, in the execution of an enterprize 
under its own peremptory orders for the destruction of an enemy’s 
fleet, an intermediate .temporary possession of any of his ships should 
be acquired during the conflict. The practical operation of such a 
violent construction of the act might so seriously exhaust the resources 
of the Government as to render success itself more ruinous than defeat. 

The Committee have more fully offered their views on the subject 
of this claim, that no misconception or erroneous impression as to the 
rights of the officers and men of the Navy, may be drawn from their 
recommendation of the bill to the favorable consideration of the 
House. The history of the legislation of Congress has, however, 
shown that the Government has not evinced an indisposition to 
recognize the claims which their patriotic and disinterested sacrifices 
have often imposed on its justice and generosity; and the Navy will 
feel an assurance in those acknowledgments of the deep sense which 
it cherishes of their devotion to the interests and honor of their 
country, that the Government will not fail, under any circumstances, 
to respect its honorary obligations to them. 

The destruction of the Philadelphia, as an exploit of distinguished 
rank among the daring achievements of the Navy, presents a powerful 
appeal to the national gratitude and honor. The reward proposed by 
the bill is not only recommended by an enlightened policy but will be 
the more grateful to the feelings of the House, as it is chiefly dispensed 


206 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19th Congress, 


to those who are entitled by their bereavements to the kindest regard 
and protection of the Country. 

Though it is clearly within the discretion of the House to distribute 
the sum granted in any individual proportions which it may deem 
expedient, yet the Committee do not recommend a distribution which 
would deprive any class of the officers and men of the full amount 
which would fall to its share under that equitable rule of apportion¬ 
ment which has been incorporated into the prize act. They have, 
therefore, declined any investigation of the comparative individual 
merit of the officers and men of the Intrepid which might lead to such 
result. The lapse of time which has intervened since the destruction 
of the Philadelphia, and the decease of many officers entitled to 
participate in the honor acquired by that enterprize, would alone 
induce the Committee to forbear an inquiry which must necessarily 
be imperfect; that might, therefore, unintentionally do injustice to 
some and rather pertains, at this late period, to the history of the 
Navy than the duties of the Committee. 

The tables marked A and B. show the classification of the officers 
and men of the Intrepid, and the distribution of SI00,000, appor¬ 
tioned among them according to the rule adopted by the prize act. 

The statement C shows the result of a distribution of that sum 
among them according to the rule prescribed in the bill, as it now 
stands. The bill, as recommitted, directs that “each individual shall 
be entitled to and receive such proportion thereof as was paid to each 
individual of the same grade, Captors of the Guerriere, Macedonian, 
and Java, of the compensation appropriated to them as nearly as 
may be.” 

The Committee further submit to the House with this report, a 
statement exhibiting the number of individuals in each class who 
shared in the amount allowed to the Captors of the Java, Macedonian 
and Guerriere, respectively. They have not presented the various 
results of distributions according to the second section of the bill 
deduced from calculations made from all these cases (which vary 
from each other in some degree,) because that derived from either of 
them fully explains the operation of the rule prescribed in the bill. 
The statement D shows the proportion, however, which would fall 
to each class in the first instance by all these distributions, and from 
which the ratio is to be deduced for a redistribution of the surplus. 
The surplus in the calculation made from the case of the Java is very 
nearly a medium between that from the Macedonian and Guerriere; 
and the Committee have, therefore, completed a distribution in the 
ratio to each individual in that case, which is presented in the state¬ 
ment C. By the adoption of this artificial rule, the three first classes 
would gain, in comparison with the distribution of the prize act, more 
than $32,500, and of this sum $26,517 goes to increase the share of 
the first class to more than $41,000. The three remaining classes 
will lose the same amount, of which nearly $25,000 must be taken 
from the seamen and marines only or their representatives. The 
brilliant success of the enterprize, conducted by its skilful and 
fearless leader, evinces that in the conflict which secured the destruc¬ 
tion of the frigate, every class of the officers and men, inspired by his 
example, must have been distinguished as well by coolness" and 
intrepidity as their devotion to the service of their country, the 
honor of their Commander and the glory of the Navy. 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


207 


The Committee recommend that the distribution of the grant be 
made among the officers and men of the Intrepid, or their representa¬ 
tives, according to the rule of the prize act, including a share to the 
representatives of Captain Edward Preble, under whose orders and 
on whose responsibility as the Commanding Officer of the squadron, 
the enterprize was undertaken. Adverse circumstances, beyond the 
control or the commanding officer of the Syren, deprived that vessel 
of the opportunity which he sought of sharing in the immediate danger 
and honor of the contest. 

If the Committee are mistaken in their construction of the prize 
act, and the House should adopt the opinion of the Counsel for the 
Memorialists, that the right to the value of the Philadelphia became 
vested in the captors, this right must have attached to them as 
individuals in their respective proportions established by the act, 
and the principle adopted in the second section of the bill would 
work a violation of the vested rights of all those whose shares fall 
into the fourth, fifth, and sixth classes. If resort is to be had to the 
prize act to establish the claim as a matter of right, the House would 
be bound specifically to carry its distributions into effect. 

The Committee believing, however, that they have not erred in 
considering the sum allowed as an honorary gratuity, and that it is 
not expedient to adopt any rule of distribution which deprives any 
class or the officers and men of the Intrepid of its share according to 
the rule of the prize act, have directed their chairman to present to 
the House, for its adoption, the accompanying amendments to the 
bill which conform to the principles contained in this report. 


Classification of the Officers and Men of the Intrepid , under the prize act for distribution. 

First Class.Stephen Decatur, Commander. 1 

Second Class... James Lawrence, Lieutenant. 

Joseph Bainbridge, do. 

Jonathan Thorn, do. 3 

Third Class_Lewis Heerman, Surgeon. 

Ralph Izard, Master’s Mate, 

William Wiley, Boatswain, 

William Hook, Gunner, 

Edward Keller, Master’s Mate. 5 

Fourth Class.. .Thomas McDonough, Midshipman, 

Charles Morris, do. 

John Davis, do. 

John Rowe, do. 

Alexander Lawes, do. 

Tho s . O. Anderson, do. 

James Metcalf, Boatswain’s Mate. 

Nicholas Brown, do. 

Joseph Boyd, S. Stewart. 9 

Fifth Class_George Crawford, Quartermaster. 

George Brown, do. 

John Newman, do. 

Paul Frazier, do. 

Solomon Wren, Sergeant Marines, 

Duncan Mansfield, Corporal, do. 

S. Catelino, Pilot, 

Samuel Endicote, Quarter Gunner, 

James Wilson, do. 

John Ford, do. 

Richard Doyle, do. 11 

Sixth Class_42 Seaman and marines. 42 










208 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19th Congress. 


B. 

Distribution of one hundred thousand dollars among the officers and crew of the Intrepid , 

according to the prize act. 


Classes. 

Persons 
in each 
class. 

Amount to 
each. 

Whole class. 

Twenti¬ 

eths. 

1st. 

1 

at 

15,000 

15, 000 

3 

2d. 

3 

each 

3, 333. 33* 

10, 000 

2 

3d. 

5 

do. 

2,000. 

10,000 

2 

4 th. 

9 

do. 

1, 944. 44-| 

17, 500 

3* 

5 th. 

11 

do. 

1,136. 36 x \ 

12, 500 

2* 

6 th. 

42 

do. 

833. 33* 

35, 000 

7 





$100, 000 

20 


Note. —The Commanding officer of the Squadron (Captain Preble) takes one- 
twentieth, being one-third of the amount of the first class, $5,000. 


c. 


Distribution of one hundred thousand dollars among the officers and men of the Intrepid, 
allowing to each the same proportionate share which was allowed to each of the like class 
of the sum granted for the capture of the Java , by the Frigate Constitution , as now pre¬ 
scribed in the bill. 

The Constitution had, in the respective classes, the following numbers, who received 
the following proportions, (taking $100,000 as the sum to be distributed) viz: 


Whole class. Twentieths. 


would receive 


each 

each 

each 

each 

each 


15, 000 
1 , 666 . 66 § 
909. 09 t x t 
514. 70 t V 
312. 50 
89. 5.85 


15, 000 
10, 000 
10, 000 
17, 000 
12, 500 
35, 000 


3 

2 

2 

3* 

2 * 

7 


1st class 1 commander, who 
2d class 6 officers 
3d class 11 officers 
4th class 34 persons 
5th class 40 persons 
6th class 393 persons 


The Intrepid had, in the 

1st class 1 commander (at 
2d class 3 officers 
3d class 5 officers 
4th class 9 persons 
5th class 11 persons 
6th class 42 persons 


above ratio) receives 


do 

each 

do 

each 

do 

each 

do 

each 

do 

each 


$100,000 20 


Whole class. 

000 

15, 000. 00 

666. 66§ 

5, 000. 00 

909. 09 t x t 

4, 545. 45 

514. 70 t V 

4, 632. 35 

312. 50 

3, 437. 50 

89. 5.85 

3, 740. 46 


the 


Leaving for further distribution 


36, 355. 76 
63, 644. 24 


$ 100 , 000 . 00 


Or 175 59-100 on $36,355.76, which per centum, added to each share above, com¬ 
pletes the distribution, according to the principle of the bill of the last Session. 

The shares filled out by this addition present the following result: 

Number of persons. Amount to each. Whole class. 


1st class 1 41,258.85 41,258.85 

2d class 3 4,584.31§ 13,722.95 

3d class 5 2,500.53* 12,502.66 

4th class 9 1,415.73f 12,741.59 

5th class 11 859.55*f 9,455.15 

6th class 42 244.96f 10,288.47 


„ . $99,999.67 

Fractions. 23 




















2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


209 


Comparison of loss and gain of each person and class between this distribution and the 

prize act. 


Classes. 

1st. 

2d. 

3d. 

4th. 

5th. 

6th. 


No. of 
persons. 

1 at 15, 000. 00 41, 258. 85 gains 26, 258. 85 whole class gains 26, 258. 85 
3 at 3,333.33 4, 584. 31 gains, each 1,250.98 

5 at 2,000.00 2,500.53 do 500.53 

9 at 1, 944. 44 1, 415. 73 loses, each 528. 71 

11 at 1,136.36 859.55 do. 276.81 

42 at 833.33 244.96 do. 588.37 


Am’t by 
prize act. 


Am’t by 
the bill. 


gains 3, 752. 95 
gains 2. 502. 66 
loses 4, 758. 41 
loses 3, 044. 85 
loses 24, 711. 53 


The number of persons in each class entitled to share in the sums allowed, respec¬ 
tively, for the capture of the Guerriere, Macedonian, and Java, were as follows: 


1st class. 2d class. 
1 7 

1 6 

1 7 


3d class. 4th class. 5th class. Gth class. 
9 29 36 390 

11 34 40 393 

12 31 48 381 


Constitution—(Guerriere) 

Constitution—(Java) 

United States—(Macedonian) 

The amount of one hundred thousand dollars on the ratio between each person in 
these cases, respectively, would stand thus: 

Guerriere, First distribution 37, 860. 72 leaving for further distribution 62,139. 28 
Java, do. 36,355.76 do 63,644.24 

Macedonian do. 35,255.58 do 64,744.42 


D. 


Distribution according to the ratio to each individual , in the cases of the Guerriere and 

Macedonian. 


GUERRIERE $100,000. 


The Constitution had, in the 

1st class 1 commander, wh 
2d class 7 officers 
3d class 9 officers 
4th class 29 persons 
5th class 36 persons 
6th class 390 persons 


The Intrepid had, in the 
1st class 1 commander, who 
2d class 3 officers 
3d class 5 officers 
4th class 9 persons 
5th class 11 persons 
6th class 42 persons 


Leaving for distribution 
MACEDONIAN $100,000. 


$15,000. 00 


Whole class 
$15, 000. 00 


do 

each 

1,428. 57 

10, 000. 00 

do 

each 

1, 111. 11 

10, 000. 00 

do 

each 

603. 44 

17. 500. 00 

do 

each 

347. 22 

12; 500. 00 

do 

each 

89. 74 

35, 000. 00 




$100, 000. 00 

rould receive 

$15, 000. 00 

$15, 000. 00 

do 

each 

1,428. 57 

4, 285. 71 

do 

each' 

1,111.11 

5, 555. 55 

do 

each 

603. 44 

5, 430. 96 

do 

each 

347. 22 

3, 819. 42 

do 

each 

89. 74 

3, 769. 08 


$37, 860. 72 
62,139. 28 


2d class 7 persons 
3d class 12 persons 
4th class 31 persons 
5th class 48 persons 
6th class 381 persons 


receive 


$15, 000. 00 

$15, 000. 00 

do 

each 

1, 428. 57 

10, 000. 00 

do 

each 

833. 33 

10, 000. 00 

do 

each 

564. 51 

17, 500. 00 

do 

each 

260. 41 

12, 500. 00 

do 

each 

91. 86 

35, 000. 00 




100, 000. 00 


39889—10-14 










210 

REPORTS 

AND PROCEEDINGS. 

[19th Congress, 

The Intrepid had, 

in the 




1st class 1 person who would receive 


$15, 000. 00 

$15, 000. 00 

2d class 3 persons 

do 

each 

1, 428. 57 

4, 285. 71 

3d class 5 persons 

do 

each 

833. 33 

4,166. 65 

4th class 9 persons 

do 

each 

564. 51 

5, 080. 59 

5th class 11 persons 

do 

each 

260. 41 

2, 864. 51 

6th class 42 persons 

do 

each 

91. 86 

3, 858.12 





$35, 255. 58 


Leaving for further distribution 

. 

64, 744. 42 


E. 


Amounts allowed by acts of Congress in cases of captures, &c. 


Laws U. S. 
Vol. 4, p. 522 
ib. 
ib. 

ib. 543. 
ib. 

ib. 693. 

ib. 835. 
Vol. 6, p. 17, 
ib. 77. 

ib. 86. 

ib. 115. 


ib. 366. 
Vol.3. p. 590. 
ib. 

Vol. 7. p. 40. 


Vessels capturing 
Constitution, 
Constitution, 
Wasp, 

Hornet, 


Hornet, 

Wasp, 


Vessels captured. 
Guerriere 
Java, 

Frolic, 
Peacock, 
Detroit, 

Lake Erie Vessels, 

To Captain Perry, 

Lake Champlain do. 
Penguin, 

Avon and Reindeer, 
And one year’s pay. 
Constitution, Levant, 

Cyane, 

Squadron, Algerine Vessels 
Barataria Vessels 
To be paid out of fines 
and forfeitures. 

Preble, Stewart, &c. Transfer, 
John Adams, 


Philadelphia, 
Two gigs, 
United States 


Meshouda, 8 
Mirboha 
Black Snake, 
Macedonian, 


Amount. 

50,000 destroyed. 
50,000 do 
25, 000 recaptured. 
25, 000 destroyed. 
12, 000 

25 5;oOo}P urchased 
310, 000 purchased 
25, 000 destroyed. 
5°, 000j deatroyed . 

25, 000 recaptured 
40, 000 purchased 
100, 000 restored. 

50, 000] captured 
1 from 
J pirates. 

2, 500 

, 594. 50 restored 
5, 000— restored 
, 3,000 destroyed 
200, 000 purchased 


How distributed. 
As prize money. 


do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 


do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 


F. 


A proposed distribution to the officers and men of the Intrepid of one hundred thousand 
dollars , in the proportion to each of the share of each in a vessel, which, full manned, 
required 100 persons. 


The classes in such a vessel are as follows: 


1st Class 1 person who would 

receive 

2d Class 3 persons 

do. 

each 

3d Class 5 persons 

do. 

each 

4th Class 10 persons 

do. 

each 

5th Class 14 persons 

do. 

each 

6th Class 67 persons 

do. 

each 



Whole 

Class. 

Twentieths. 

15, 000 

$15, 000 

3 

3, 333. 33} 

10, 000 

2 

2, 000. 00 

10, 000 

2 

1, 750. 00 

17, 500 

3} 

892. 85} 

12, 500 

2} 

522. 38*V 

35, 000 

7 


$100, 000 









2d Session.] REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


211 


On this ratio, the officers and men of the Intrepid would receive each, as follows: 


1st Class. 
2d Class. 
3d Class. 
4th Class. 
5th Class. 
6th Class. 


1 person who would 

receive 

$15, 000. 00 

Whole class. 
$15, 000. 00 

3 persons 

each 

3, 333. 33£ 

10, 000. 00 

5 persons 

each 

2, 000. 00 

10, 000. 00 

9 persons 

each 

1, 750. 00 

15, 750. 00 

11 persons 

each 

892. 85 f 

9, 821. 42 

42 persons 

each 

522. 38 & 

21, 930. 29 


Leaving for further distribution (21f££ per cent.) 
The shares filled out by this addition, result as follows: 


1st Class. 
2d Class. 
3d Class. 
4th Class. 
5th Class. 
6th Class. 


1 person at 
3 do. 

5 do. 

9 do. 

11 do. 

42 do. 


$18,181. 35 
4, 040. 30 
2, 424.18 
2,121.15 
1, 082. 22 
632. 89 


Whole Class 


$82, 501. 71 
$17, 498. 29 


$18,1831. 35 
12,120. 90 
12,120. 90 
19,090. 41 
11, 904. 44 
26, 581. 49 


$99, 999. 49 
Fractions 51 


Loss and gain of each by this distribution, compared with prize act. 


Number of 
persons. 

1st Class. 1 

2d Class. 3 

3d Class. 5 

4th Class. 9 

5th Class. 11 

6th Class. 42 


Am’t by prize 
act. 


$15, 000. 00 
3, 333. 33 
2 , 000 . 00 
1, 944. 44 
1,136. 36 
833. 33 


Am’t by this distri¬ 
bution. 


$18,181. 31 gains 
4, 040. 30 do. each 
2,424.18 do. do. 
2,121.15 do. do. 
1,082. 22 losses 
632.89 do. 


3,181. 35 gains 
706.97 do. 
424.18 do. 
176.71 do. 
54.14 loses 
200.44 do. 


Whole class. 
3,181. 35 
2,120. 90 
2,120. 90 
1, 590. 41 
595. 56 
8, 418. 51 


Remarks upon the claim of Mrs. Dedatur, as representative of the 
late Commodore Decatur, in behalf of herself, and of the officers 
and men of the ketch Intrepid, for compensation in the nature of 
prize money, for the capture of the Philadelphia, in the harbor of 
Tripoli. 

That the Captors might, if not peremptorily enjoined to the con¬ 
trary, by their orders, have brought off their prize, and reaped the 
pecuniary reward designed them by the law, is a matter of the highest 
probability; and approximates certainly as near as any unaccom¬ 
plished event can do. They found her completely equipped and 
fitted for sea, and prepared for action even to the loading of her guns. 
After all the time spent in the action, in preparations to execute the 
order for the destruction of the ship; in the effectual application of the 
means of destruction, according to the details of the order; and in 
waiting to see the progress and effect of the same, and to repel the 
apprehended attempts of the enemy to retake the ship, before her 
destruction had been placed beyond doubt; after all this lapse of 
time, the captors effected their retreat, in their own vessel, without 
the loss of a man. I apprehend that the means and the chances of 
escape in the captured frigate, were incalculably greater and more 
certain, if the Captors had been at liberty to cut her cables and hoist 










212 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19tii Congress, 


sail, the instant they had mastered her decks. Two obstacles were 
to be apprehended and guarded against, whether they retreated in 
their own vessel, or in the prize; recapture and impediments of navi¬ 
gation. Against the first, the superior means of defence in the frigate 
are too obvious to be insisted on: and I take it for granted, that her 
faculties as a sailer, the depth of water, and other circumstances, 
must have opened her a way to the sea, at least as safe and speedy as 
that of the Ketch Intrepid. But the time which would thus have 
been gained, must be held conclusive. The advantage it would have 
given the Captors is incalculable; and even if it were possible to sup¬ 
pose that the intrinsic difficulties opposing their egress in the frigate 
were greater than what they encountered in the ketch, (an hypothesis 
deemed wholly inadmissible,) still the advantage of time must more 
than have compensated them. Commodore Preble framed his order 
when at a great distance from the scene of action; and, reasoning 
from probabilities and circumstances in general, he infferred that the 
enterprize, even to the extent of taking and destroying the frigate, 
would have been attended with more difficulty and loss than actually 
occurred. He did not anticipate the consequences, to their full 
extent, of the panic terror, with which the suddenness of the attack, 
and the heroic bearing of the assailants, struck the enemy: he prob¬ 
ably anticipated desperate resistance, and a serious sacrifice of life. 
It was obviously impossible for him, at that distance, to judge of the 
actual state and condition of the frigate, or of the existing means 
and facilities for bringing her off; which must have depended on 
contingencies which he had no possible means of ascertaining; such 
as the losses to be sustained by the assailants, in carrying her; the 
state of her equipment for defence or for sailing; of the wind, weather, 
&c. Her destruction, by so well planned and daring an enterprise, 
was deservedly considered as of the utmost importance to the opera¬ 
tions then going on against Tripoli; as well from its moral effect upon 
the enemy, as the abstraction of so much of his positive force. This 
great object, the Commodore concluded from the facts and circum¬ 
stances then known to him, would have been put in too much hazard, 
by an attempt to push the enterprise to the point of still more signal 
and glorious success, by bringing off the prize in the face of the enemy. 
But it turned out, in the event, that this would have been far the 
safer and easier achievement. It is understood, indeed, to be the 
opinion of the most experienced and skilful Naval Commanders, that 
if Commodore Preble had conducted the enterprise in person, he 
would, upon the spot, and with a full view of all the circumstances, 
have changed his plan, and brought off the frigate. This is well 
known to have been the decided and clear opinion of the illustrious 
Commander, who first suggested, and then executed, the enterprise, 
with so much glory and advantage to himself and his country. ’Tis 
well known that while he faithfully and punctually fulfilled the 
orders of his superior in command, he would gladly have followed the 
bent of his own genius, by taking the course pointed out by the cir¬ 
cumstances and the event of the action. 

As to one of the questions which have been suggested in this case, 
whether the captors acquire a beneficial property and interest in a 
maritime prize of war, before adjudication, I have, on a former occa¬ 
sion, been called upon to give it full consideration: and the opinion 
then expressed, and the reasons advanced in the affirmative, I yet 


Ud Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


213 


adhere to, with a confidence corroborated by the success with which 
they were maintained before a tribunal of* pre-eminent learning & 
talent. 

The general principle, deduced from the maritime law of nations, 
has been settled by repeated decisions of the highest authority in 
this country, and stands clear of any possible doubt. The transfer 
of the property of prize, from the one belligerent to the other, at the 
instant of capture; a property for which the victor’s flag is the 
all-sufficient badge, and which can be divested only by re-capture, 
or by the sentence of a competent court; the consequent capacity of 
the captor to vindicate his right of property and possession by every 
species of possessory action, or other judicial remedy, inherent to 
every lawful possession coupled with a beneficial interest, have been 
distinctly and conclusively established by a concurrence of numerous 
decisions, both in the former federal court of appeals, and in the 
present supreme court of the United States. By these the property 
is held to be so indefeasibly vested in the captor, by the mere capture, 
without adjudication as prize, that it was not divested by his setting 
fire to his prize at sea, and giving her up to destruction, for the want of 
adequate force to bring her into port. This was decided by the 
federal court of appeals, in the Mary Ford,* and reconsidered and 
approved by the Supreme Court in the LTnvincible.f An American 
ship found the Mary Ford in this desperate condition at sea, extin¬ 
guished the fire, and brought her safe into port, where she was 
claimed both by the original British owner and bv the French captor: 
the claim of the former was rejected, and restoration on salvage 
decreed to the captor. In the josepha Segunda,f it was decided that 
an unadjudicated prize, brought by the "captor into a neutral port, 
might there be absolutely forfeited by a breach of the local laws of 
trade. A stronger illustration of the rights acquired by mere capture, 
before condemnation, need not be desired; for here, an indefeasible 
transfer of the property was held to have been operated by the sole 
act of the captor; and expressly for the reason that his title is vested 
by virtue of the capture alone, and instantaneously that it is achieved: 
subject to be divested only by recapture, or by the sentence of a 
competent tribunal.§ 

Such are the clear and unquestionable rights of property incident 
to maritime capture, jure belli, as deduced from the maritime law of 
nations. That there is no distinction, in this respect, between the 
rights of belligerent captors in general, and those of the officers and 
men belonging to the public and private armed ships of the United 
States, under the several acts of Congress by which their respective 
rights are recognized, has been settled, after full discussion and 
mature consideration, by the late Board of Commissioners for the 
adjudication of claims upon Spain, under the treaty with that power, 
commonly called the Florida treaty; which was the occasion, before 
mentioned, which had formerly led me to examine the question. It 
was there presented in various cases of captures during the late war 
with Britain, some by our public ships of war, some by privateers; 


*3 Dal. 188. 
f 1 Wheat. 259. . 

J5 Wheat. 357. 

§For some additional illustration, vide the Resolution, 2 Dal. 1. The Nuestra 
Senora, 4 Wheat. 501. 



214 REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. [ 19 th Congress, 

whose prizes had been seized or despoiled in Spanish ports, before 
adjudication. In these cases it was decided that the captors, in 
both descriptions of capture, had acquired such an interest in their 
respective prizes, by the mere capture, without any adjudication, 
as entitled them to demand indemnity from Spain, just as any other 
proprietors, who had suffered the like injuries; and, consequently, 
that they ought to be admitted as claimants under the treaty. It 
was never imagined that when the acts of Congress superadded the 
solemnity of condemnation, as one of the requisites to the full and 
perfect enjoyment of the fruits of prize, it was intended to make it 
the preliminary requisite to the investiture of the right of property. 
By the terms of the act it is made necessary for the purpose only of 
authorizing the disposal of the prize, and the distribution of the 
prize money. The specific property in the prize itself, was not in 
the contemplation of the Legislature: they speak only of the “pro¬ 
ceeds,” and the distribution of the “prize money” resulting from 
the disposal of the prize after condemnation: it is for this only that 
the captors are to await the process of regular adjudication.* This 
precaution of public policy, to prevent the irregularities and abuses 
that might follow from the unlimited disposal and appropriation of 
prizes by captors, without any judicial sanction of the capture, has 
been more distinctly pronounced and emphatically enjoined in the 
case of privateers; who are expressly forbidden to break bulk, or 
make any other disposal or conversion of their prizes, before due 
condemnation by a competent tribunal.f It never entered into the 
conception of Congress to make any change in the rule of public 
law, by which the transfer of the property of prize from the one 
belligerent to another had been determined. To have placed the 
rights of the officers and men of our own Navy upon a footing of 
inequality, in this respect, with those of other nations, would have 
been not more injurious to the individuals, than a disparagement of 
the belligerent rights of the United States as a sovereign power. The 
only office and effect assigned to a sentence of condemnation, by 
the various acts of Congress on the subject of recapture, salvage, 
and prize, are merely to annex to the right of property, acquired, 
jure belli, the qualities of being disposable; so as to let the captors 
into the actual fruition of the proceeds, and to bar the rights of 
postliming in the original owner, as opposed to the rights of their 
captors and vendees. Beyond this, the greatest sticklers, elsewhere, 
for the necessity of adjudication to consumnate the property of prize, 
have not pushed the doctrine in practice. As to the case of the 
Elsebe,f decided by Sir William Scott, I do not think that any fault 
can be found with the decision upon the point directly put in issue 
by that case; which was simply that the Government may, by 
treaty of peace, lawfully restore a prize before condemnation: and 
that the question of compensation to the captor rests with the Gov¬ 
ernment, and not with the Court of prize. I should not have doubted 
the power of the British Government or of any other Government, 
to do this, in virtue of Eminent Domain incident sovereignty; but 
upon the indispensable condition of making just compensation for 

* Vid. Act of April 23, 1800, ch. 33, for the better government of the Navy, secs. 
5 & 6, vol. 3, p. 360. 

f Act of June 26, 1812, ch. 107, sec. 6, vol. 4, page 450. 

J 5 Rob. 155. 



2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


215 


the private rights of property affected by the measure; a condition 
which public morality and public law have made coextensive with 
the power; and which has, m express terms, been annexed to it by 
the constitution of the United States * The principle derogates 
nothing from the captor’s inherent rights of property, in virtue of 
the mere capture; because it extends to every species and quality of 
property belonging to the citizens or subjects of the sovereigns, 
without distinction, whether it be qualified in its nature, or con¬ 
summate and perfect. In the argument of the court, however, in 
the Elsebe, some dicta are uttered, going rather beyond the principle 
necessary to be decided in the case. These may be referred to 
certain pecidiar and favourite doctrines of that court, on the general 
necessity and effect of a sentence of condemnation, which have, in a 
great measure, resulted from the policy and interest of Britain in 
her relative condition as a maritime power: but from which to infer 
a sentence of condemnation to be an indispensable prerequisite to the 
transfer of the property of prize from one belligerent to another, 
would be not only to set aside the whole current of decisions in our 
own courts, sustained by those of the great majority of civilized 
nations, but would very far transcend any practical decision in 
England, either of the courts of admiralty or of common law; not¬ 
withstanding some certain dicta of the former. Their Courts of 
Common law have clearly decided that the captor acquires a bene¬ 
ficial interest in the prize, upon which he may effect insurance, 
“from the moment the victor hoists his flag on board the conquered 
ship.”f The present claim, like that of insured upon insurer, is 
strictly a claim for indemnity; in which it is universally held to be 
utterly immaterial whether the property be qualified, and require 
some ulterior process for its consummation, or be consummate to 
every practical purpose of perfect fruition. It has already been 
shown that, upon general principles, and according to all law and 
precedent in this country, the property of the captor, in an unad- 
judicated prize, is consummate to every beneficial purpose but that 
of being changed into the shape of prize money for distribution; 
and of being assignable ad infinitum, discharged from the right of 
postliminy; and when the actual decisions of the English courts of 
admiralty and common law come to be critically examined and 
compared, they will be found to give the same practical result. 

Whether Congress, when they awarded compensation, in lieu of 
prize money, to the captors of the Guerriere and Java, proceeded 
upon the ground of strict right or of equitable indemnity, cannot, 
perhaps, be positively asserted. But, either way, these precedents 
come up fully to the principle of the present claim; if they do not 
go beyond it. In those cases, the destruction of the prizes necessarily 
resulted from the action, and from the fortune of war; while, in 
this, the captors might have preserved their prize and enjoyed the 
fruits of their toil and danger, but for the intervention of an over¬ 
ruling order, positively forbidding it. In other respects, it is sub¬ 
mitted with confidence, that there can be no defect of merits, either 


* Note.—This doctrine has been adverted to, and pretty fully explained in the 
memorial of Mr. Meade, presented to the President some years ago—and about to 
become a subject of discussion before the present Congress, 
f 1 Marsh, on Insur. 107-8. 





216 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19th Congrkss, 


positive or comparative, in the captors of the Philadelphia, to exclude 
them from the benefit of these precedents, whatever the principle 
upon which they were established. 

W. Jones. 

December 9, 1825. 


Case. 

An American Man of War having succeeded in effecting the capture 
of an enemy’s vessel of superior force, having entirely dispossessed 
the enemy, and obtained undisputed possession, in obedience to 
peremptory orders, destroys the prize without bringing her into port, 
and before obtaining a decree of condemnation in a prize court; have 
such captors any legal claim to the value of the captured property, 
as against the United States ? 

OPINION. 

The claim of captors to the proceeds of prizes taken by them from the 
enemy, is founded on the 5th section or the act of Congress of April 
23, 1800, which enacts that “the proceeds of all ships and vessels, 
and the goods taken on board of them, which shall be adjudged 
good prize, shall, when of equal or superior force to the vessel or vessels 
making the capture, be the sole property of the captors.” 

By the law of nations, and independently of any statutory provi¬ 
sions, all captures enure to the exclusive benefit of the Government. 
Most nations, however, have, for the purpose of stimulating those in 
their service to greater vigilance and activity, granted this interest, or 
a portion of it, under special circumstances, to the individuals by 
whom the prizes are made. The statute to which I have referred, 
contains the terms and conditions upon which this right is trans¬ 
ferred in the cases specified under our own law. It operates as a 
contract between the nation and the captors. 

It might be imagined that the language of the statute implies that 
condemnation, as prize of war, is an essential preliminary to the 
vesting of this right. I cannot, however, bring my mind to the 
conclusion, that Congress, in this indirect manner, designed to commit 
the country upon the important and much litigated question, when 
the right of property is completely vested in the captors. Some 
writers on public law have held that condemnation is essential; 
others, of equal authority, have sanctioned the opposite doctrine. 
From obvious motives of policy, Great Britain has lent her counte¬ 
nance to the former opinion, but it has never yet been absolutely 
settled in this country; and it cannot easily be believed that Congress 
designed to determine the question in this collateral manner. Indeed 
there seems little necessity for insisting upon it, as indispensably 
requisite, except in the cases of neutral property which has become 
obnoxious to capture by some violation of belligerent rights. The 
right of the neutral, presumptively unquestionable, ought to be 
divested only by a judicial decree fixing upon him the offence which 
involves as its consequence the forfeiture of his property as prize. 
Where, however, the property is avowedly and notoriously hostile, 
condemnation as prize is not universally necessary, and may be 
regarded as little more than a mere formality. Our own courts have 



2d SlidSION.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


217 


held that simple belligerent possession confers a right, which can be 
questioned only by superior force of arms on the part of the enemy, 
or its validity judicially determined in the courts of the Captors 
themselves. At all events, under the strictest decisions of the English 
Courts, an inchoate right invests immediately by the very act of 
capture, which is recognized as susceptible of transfer, of insurance, 
and other acts of ownership, and which is distinguishable only in 
degree from the same rights when perfected by the decree of a prize 
court. 

In this view of the case, I am unable to discriminate between a 
right of this description and any other species of property, which, by 
the Constitution or the United States, it is prohibited to take for public 
purposes without compensation. If a capture has been legally 
effected; if the Captors are in undisputed possession of the prize, and 
the Government, to subserve its own purposes, surrenders it to the 
enemy, relinquishes it to a neutral, employs it in military operations, 
by which it is lost to those interested in "the proceeds, or consigns it 
to inevitable destruction, it appears to me that it is bound by every 
principle of equity and of law to compensate the individual Captors 
to the full value of' their respective interests. The Constitution 
equally protects the Citizen in the enjoyment of those rights of 
property, which are inchoate and remain to be perfected by some 
ulterior proceedings, as of those which are absolute and indispensable. 

Upon another ground, I conceive the claim to be equally well 
founded: even upon the supposition that condemnation by the 
admiralty was an essential preliminary to the vesting of the right in 
the captors. If the performance of this condition has been prevented 
by the act of the Government itself, it is by every principle of law 
precluded from availing itself of the fact of such non-performance. 
To interpose an insuperable impediment in the way of the performance 
of a condition, is tantamount to a waiver of it. If, then, by the 
authority of Government, or of superior officers, who must be con¬ 
sidered as the organs of the Government, captured property is taken 
Out of the hands of the Captors and appropriated to public purposes, 
and the captors are thus deprived of the power of obtaining a con¬ 
demnation, they stand in the eye of the law in the same predicament, 
and their rights are as perfect, as if the decree of condemnation had 
actually passed. The physical power belongs to the Government: 
and that may as well be exerted after the prize is brought into port, 
delivered into the custody of the Marshall and the cause is ready for 
judgment, as at the moment of capture, or at any intermediate period 
of time. An interposition of this kind, it is usual to put as one of 
those extreme cases which cannot practically be anticipated because 
it would be indecorous even to suppose the Government guilty of so 
gross an act of injustice. 

The principles which have been stated, seem to have been recognized 
and sanctioned by the highest authorities in our country, on some 
memorable occasions. It is necessary to refer only to one, which 
strikes me as perfectly coincident. In the summer of 1805, a squadron, 
under the command" of Commodore Decatur, captured an Algerine 
frigate and a brig—they were in possession of the captors. With a 
view to promote the public interests, the negotiators for peace agreed 
to restore them to the enemy; not by treaty, but as a voluntary 
donation, after the treaty was completed, and because of their small 


218 * 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[19th Congress, 


value to us, as well as the great impression upon the enemy as. to 
our resources, which such an act would produce. No condemnation 
had passed: the prizes had not been sent to the United States: yet 
Congress considered the rights of the Captors as perfect, and their 
interests as sacred; and they were accordingly compensated. The 
same principle applies with equal strength to the case of a voluntary 
destruction by order of the Government as to that of a voluntary 
surrender. If any difference exists between the cases, it consists in 
this single circumstance; that in the one case the surrender was in 
virtue of a general authority, which subsequently received the 
sanction of the Government; in the other, the destruction was com¬ 
pliance with previous orders. 

The only judicial decision which I am aware of, which can be 
thought to contravene the principles which I have laid down, is one 
made by Sir William Scott, in December, 1804. (The Elsebe, 5 
Rob.) That was the case of a Swedish vessel, which had been 
captured, and before condemnation, ordered to be restored; and the 
Captors insisted upon their rights, notwithstanding the order of the 
Government for the restoration of the property. The very distin¬ 
guished judge, by whom the point was determined, viewed the 
question as one of great delicacy and difficulty, but he finally decided 
against the claim. Upon this decision, it is important to remark: 1. 
That the date of it being subsequent to the destruction of the Phila¬ 
delphia, it cannot, with fairness, be held to govern the case. 2. The 
principle which rests at the foundation of the judgment, viz: that 
a decree of condemnation is essential to transfer the property, is not 
yet established in this country. It has been adopted in England from 
considerations of policy: the same motives, if they existed to the same 
extent in the United States, have not yet been permitted to influence 
the decisions of our judicial tribunals. 3. The prerogative of the 
sovereign was considered as involved in the question, and influenced 
the decision of the court: here no collateral motive exists. 4. The 
Constitution, prohibiting to apply the property of individuals to 
public purposes, without compensation, does not operate in England, 
to stay the arm of Government in disposing of the interests of its 
subjects. 5. The language of the grant to the Captors in England, is 
much more restricted than that of our own statute: it directs that the 
prize may be lawfully sold and disposed of; “ after the same shall have 
been to us finally adjudged lawful prize, and not otherwise;” recog¬ 
nizing, in express language, the necessity for a condemnation as an 
essential prerequisite before any interest vests in the Captors. 

If, under these circumstances Sir Wm. Scott felt the difficulty and 
delicacy of the question before him, it can scarcely be doubted that, had 
he been sitting in an American instead of an English court, administer¬ 
ing justice our statute, and guiding himself by the principles of our 
Constitution and Government, he could scarcely have hesitated in 
sanctioning the validity of the claim of the captors. 

On the whole, my opinion is, that in every case in which the captors 
have been prevented by the act of the Government, or its lawfully 
authorized Agents, from proceeding to adjudication and obtaining a 
decree of condemnation, the fair and just interpretation of the 
statute entitles them to remuneration to the full value of the property 
captured. As, however, no suit can be sustained against the United 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


2d Session.] 


219 


States, to enforce any pecuniary claim, the only resource is an 
application to the justice and equity of Congress. 

The foregoing opinion assumes for its basis the two facts, that the 
vessel might have been brought out of the enemy’s port; and that 
this was not done by order of the Commander. The situation of the 
Philadelphia frigate, not more than from two to two and a half from 
the mouth of the harbour; the wind favorable, which would have 
enable her to pass over this space within a quarter of an hour, justify 
to the minds of those who are not skilled in nautical matters, the 
decided opinion of Captain Jones, than whom no more competent 
judge can be found, and of the pilot who accompanied the expedition. 
The orders of Commodore Preble are equally decisive of the other 
question. 

Richard S. Coxe. 

Georgetown, D. C., Dec. 2, 1825. 



TWENTIETH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. 


In the House of Representatives 

of the United States, 

December 6, 1827. 

A Committee on Naval Affairs was appointed pursuant to the 
standing rules and orders of the House consisting of 


Mr. 

Mr. 

Mr. 

Mr. 

Mr. 

Mr. 

Mr. 


Hoffman, Chairman. 
Bartlett 
Crowninshield 
Carter 
Miller 
Dorsey & 

Ripley 


Members. 


ELEANOR WELLS. 


Made 25th January 1828 


Read & laid upon the table. 
(Made by Mr. Hoffman) 


The Committee on Naval Affairs to whom was referred the petition 
of Eleanor Wells, 


report: 


That, by the last pay roll and the shipping articles of the Frigate 
Insurgent, received from Capt. Patrick Fletcher her commandant, 
with his letter dated “ Hampton Roads, 7th August 1800, it appears 
that Luke Wells, or as he wrote his name Wills, shipped as a landman, 
at $10 per month, on the 18th day of July 1800, for twelve months to 
commence from the last time of weighing anchor or departure from 
Cape Henry. This vessel left the waters of the United States under 
instructions, dated at the Navy Department July 14th 1800, to cruise 

221 





222 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[20th Congress, 


on and near the coast of the United States, to defend our commerce, 
and especially against the aggressions of the “Guadaloupe priva¬ 
teers.” The vessel and crew were lost. The Congress of the United 
States, April 29, 1802, (Laws of the U. S. Yol. 3, p. 492) granted to 
the widow if any, & if not, then to the child or children of every officer, 
seaman and marine, in the service of the United States & lost on 
board that vessel, a sum equal to four months pay of the person lost. 
It appears that the petitioner, as the widow of Luke Wells, availed 
herself of the provisions of this act. It does not appear that her son 
ever was in the service of the Lhiited States—nor that the husband, 
at the time he left the United States in any degree contributed to her 
support or provided for it; nor is it seen how the proof of these facts 
could vary the present case. The petitioner is poor, old & infirm. 

Your Committee have examined the facts in this case and the laws 
in force at the time of the loss of the Insurgent. At that time there 
was no law making any provision in any event for the widow of a sea¬ 
man or marine. In 1802, Congress took the subject into considera¬ 
tion, and made provision for this case, and for the first time extended 
the bounty of the Country to the widow of the seamen and marine. 
In this case the Committee do not deem it expedient to make any 
further provision for the widow. Her husband was not killed in 
battle or by the enemies of the country, but was lost by the perils of 
the sea; and against losses from these perils, the Committee are of 
opinion the United States ought not to indemnify the widows and 
children of seamen or Marines: and therefore they recommend the 
following resolution: 

Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 


JAMES FORMAN. 


Made Jan y 25th 1828 
Read and laid on the table. 

Mr. Hoffman, from the Committee on Naval Affairs to which was 
refferred the petition of James Forman, made the 

James Forman. following 

REPORT'. 

That your Committee have examined the facts and allegations of 
the petition. None of them are proved; and if they were all proved, 
they would not in the opinion of your Committee on any principle 
sustain the claim of the petitioner against the United States. In the 
most favorable light in which the good conduct and valor of the peti¬ 
tioner can be viewed, he rendered no service to the United States, 
and did only his duty as an American seaman to his owners and under¬ 
writers, in recapturing the vessels of which he was the mate. The 
Committee therefore recommend the following resolution. 

Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


223 


No. 100. 
DRY DOCKS. 


Made Jan y 25 1828. 

Mr. Hoffman, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which the 
subject had been referred, made the following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, who were instructed by a resolu¬ 
tion of the House of Representatives, of December 12, 1827, to 
inquire into the expediency of causing the construction of Dry Docks, 
to be commenced at the navy yards at Brooklyn, New York, and 
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, report: 

That dry docks are, in the opinion of your Committee, the beat, 
safest, most economical, as well as the most necessary means, for the 
repair of the public armed vessels. On this part of the subject the 
Committee will not weaken, by any effort to sustain the able, con¬ 
clusive, and satisfactory arguments of the Navy Commissioners, in 
their report to the Secretary of the Navy, of February 17, 1826; and 
respectfully refer the House to that report, as proving conclusively 
the strong necessity for, and great advantages of dry docks, in the 
repair of our public ships, as well as the great usefulness of such 
docks, as an appendage to building ways. 

In the report made by Mr. L. Baldwin to the Secretary of the 
Navy, December 28, 1826, after due examination, and a detailed 
estimate, the expense of constructing a dry dock is stated to be, at 

Charlestown. $356,864:04 

Gosport. 398,800:00 

Brooklyn. 380,116:86 

Portsmouth. 349,571:71 

These estimates are believed to be reasonable, and show, that the 
docks, at the two last named yards, would cost $25,975:47 less than 
at the two first; and that the docks at the last, would cost $49,228:29 
less than the most expensive, and $7,282:33 less than the least expen¬ 
sive of the others. In the report of the Secretary of the Navy to the 
President of the United States, of December 1, 1827, it is stated, that, 
under the fourth section of the act of March 3, 1827, for the gradual 
improvement of the Navy of the United States, the sites for the two 
dry docks, authorized by that act, had been located at Charlestown 
and Gosport. This location was made in accordance with the intima¬ 
tion contained in the report of the Secretary of the Navy, to the 
President of the United States, of January 10, 1827. The Legislative 
and Executive Government of the United States, having thus con¬ 
curred in the construction of the dry docks at the two sites above 
mentioned; it is respectfully submitted, that there cannot be found, 
in the mere comparative expense of the two others, any serious 
objection to their construction. 






224 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[20tii Congress, 


The Committee would respectfully remark, that the Navy Depart¬ 
ment has been uniform in tire expression of an opinion, of the necessity 

Dr Docks and advantages of dry docks; and the legislation 

above referred to, proves, conclusively, that, in the 
judgment of the whole Government, dry docks were necessary and 
would be beneficial over any other mode of repairing our armed 
vessels. The only remaining duty of your Committee seems to be, 
to ascertain, whether those already authorized will, in the growing 
necessities of the Navy, and in the events of war , answer all the useful 
purposes, so justly expected from the employment of such docks; and 
if there is reason to think they will not, then, whether those con¬ 
templated by the resolution of the House, will essentially contribute 
to that end. 

All measures respecting our navy should be designed to contribute 
to its efficiency in the defence of the Republic and its commerce. 
This rule most emphatically applies to the location and use of dry 
docks as lasting appendages to our naval establishments. In war, a 
considerable part of our naval force must be employed on our Eastern 
coast, and especially if our enemies should possess the country north 
and east of the United States. The vessels guarding that coast may, 
by the necessities of weather, or the accidents of war, be obliged to 
refit or repair. Their convenience, as well as safety, will induce them 
to seek the nearest port, as the one which they may most easily reach, 
and from which they may most speedily return to guard the coast, 
defend our commerce or annoy the enemy. At such a season, Ports¬ 
mouth, always accessible, susceptible of being safely and securely 
defended, and always open to the sea, and almost impossible to be 
blockaded, and having at it an established navy yard, furnished 
with all the materials and workmen for the most speedy repairs, and 
hardy seamen, collected by inactive commerce, from which to recruit 
the crews of armed vessels, will be at once the nearest, safest, and 
most proper resort. But, the public vessels, driven into that harbour 
by stress of weather, or induced to take shelter there for repairs in the 
accidents of war, or lying there in ordinary, or building there, cannot, 
if in any considerable degree out of repair, with any safety, attempt, 
while hostile fleets are hovering on that coast, to sail for Boston for 
repairs. If, then, in the time of peace, a dry dock at Charlestown 
may suffice for our navy on that coast, it appears to be wholly inade¬ 
quate to the wants of the navy in time of war; while a dry dock at 
Portsmouth, convenient and advantageous in peace, will be indis¬ 
pensable in time of war. 

In a considerable degree, the same observations apply to New York 
and the Navy yard at Brooklyn. 

A vast commerce is collected in that port. Out of this grows at 
once the public revenue and the commercial accommodation of almost 
every part of the Union. To disturb or destroy this commerce, is, 
at once, greatly to injure and cripple the Government, and to distress 
our citizens not only in and near that city, but also in every part of. 
the United States connected with it by the course of trade. The 
immense value of property afloat in that harbour, the revenue 
collected there, and the intimate connection of its trade with the 
general prosperity and accommodation of the country, will always 
strongly invite the cupidity and assaults of the public enemies. To 


1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


225 


collect a large part of our naval force at that place can scarcely add 
any inducement to attack; but the vessels of war prepared for sea, 
and the crews of those undergoing repair, and the marines attached 
to them, would constitute a most valuable and efficient portion of 
the requisite means for the defence of the place, and, in its defence, 
that of our revenue and commerce. Hence, it will, at all times, in 
war, be desirable to draw into that port a very large proportion of 
the public armed vessels. There, too, it will be found most easy to 
enlist and recruit the crews of our ships from the great collection of 
our seamen. The best materials and workmen for the building, 
repairing, and refitting of ships, will abound in that harbour; and, 
on these accounts, it may be considered as among the best places for 
our ships in ordinary, and as a rendezvous for those in commission 
requiring repairs, additions to their crew, or supplies. In peace, 
then, a dry dock at Brooklyn promises every advantage which can 
be anticipated from one at any place. In peace, too, it would be 
difficult and expensive to cause the public ships, built or in ordinary, 
or in commission there, to sail from New York either to Boston or 
Gosport for repair. In war, it would be impossible, and the attempt 
would expose to capture all those which needed any considerable 
repair. 

Without giving any opinion, as to any further increase than that 
contemplated by the resolution, the Committee are of opinion, that 
the two dry docks now authorized cannot, for reasons above assigned, 
even in peace, answer the reasonable wants of the Navy; and that 
in war they will be very inadequate to its proper accommodation: and 
they believe that dry docks at Portsmouth and Brooklyn will essen¬ 
tially contribute'to the economy, safety and efficiency of the Navy 

From the construction and use of these docks in every maritime 
country of western Europe, the Committee cannot consider, as a 
new undertaking, the construction of them in the United States. 
Nothing more, during the year, can be done towards any which may 
now be authorized, than to procure the requisite materials. From 
the progress made, and making, in the construction of those already 
authorized, it is submitted that the Department and its agents, will 
hereafter, in the construction of such as may be now authorized, 
proceed in a great degree with the benefits of experience. And by 
authorizing at this time the construction of these two additional 
docks it is not reasonable to suppose that they can be employed in 
all for the use of the i^avy earlier than 1832. In the delays and slow 
progress unavoidably incident to the construction of these docks, in 
the best and most durable manner, the Committee find a strong 
inducement to recommend their early commencement. And, in as 
much as the money appropriated by the act for the gradual improve¬ 
ment of the Navy, approved March 3, 1827, may, for the year, in the 
opinion of the Committee, be well employed for the purposes therein 
specified. They recommend an additional appropriation for the com¬ 
mencement of the dry docks in question, and especially as no more 
than eighty thousand dollars can be well employed in procuring 
materials for each of these docks this year. 

The Committee, therefore, report a Bill accordingly 
39889—10-15 


226 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[20th Congress, 


Navy Department, 7th Jan y . 1828. 

Sir: I have the honor to state, in answer to your letter of the 2d 
inst. on the subject of dry docks, that I have no information to com¬ 
municate in addition to the report of 10 January, 1827. 

If appropriations should be made for building dry clocks at Ports¬ 
mouth and New York, nothing more could be done during the present 
year than to select the site, and purchase a portion of the materials. 
Eighty thousand dollars for each dock authorized would be sufficient 
for this year. Not less than three or more than four years will be 
required to complete them after the work is commenced. Consider¬ 
able benefits will no doubt be derived from the experience gained 
in the construction of those already authorized before the others are 
commenced, by which imperfections may be avoided, and the greatest 
economy insured. 

Should two more docks be directed to be built, the Department 
will endeavor so to arrange the time of erection and expenditure of 
the appropriation as to insure the best information and its most 
beneficial application. 

I am, very respectfully &c 

Sam 1 . L. Southard 

Hon. Michael Hoffman 

Chairman of the Naval Committee, Ho. of Rep s . 


Navy Commissioners’ Office 

17th February, 1826. 

Sir: The expediency of establishing Docks, for the repair of our 
ships of war, has been heretofore recognized by acts of the National 
Legislature. In the year 1799 (25th February) when we had no ves¬ 
sels of a class larger than Frigates, a law was passed authorizing the 
establishment of two Docks. The Commissioners are uninformed as 
to the considerations which suspended the execution of this law, but 
they are fully persuaded, that if it had been carried into effect, at 
that early period, an immense amount would have been saved to the 
Treasury. 

So many argumentative reports have been made, illustrating the 
necessity and economy of docks, that the Commissioners can scarcely 
hope to be able to present any new lights upon the subject. It 
possesses, however, in itself, so much intrinsic interest, it affects 
essentially the efficiency of the Navy, and the present state of the 
service, calls so imperiously for the construction of Docks, that the 
Commissioners feel themselves impelled, by a high sense of duty, to 
invite your serious attention to the subject. 

If when the Navy consisted of vessels of rates inferior to ships of 
the line, Docks were necessary (as they certainly were) the necessity 
for them is greatly increased, by the fact of our now having ships of 
the line, and other vessels of larger size, than any then belonging to 
the Navy. Frigates cannot, be hove down without hazard, the opera¬ 
tion (the only alternative, in the absence of Docks) always strains 
their hulls, and not unfrequently injures the forms of their bottoms, 
and materially affects their sailing. These objections to the process 
of heaving down, apply with still greater force, to vessels of larger 
size; the risk of heaving down a ship of the line is of itself, separately 



REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


1st Session.] 


227 


and distinctly considered, so serious, as to justify the construction 
of a Dock to avoid it 

The advantages of Docks consist essentially of 

1st Safety in repairing & examining ship’s bottoms. 

2d. Economy of time 

3d Economy in expense of repairing. 

4th. The facilities they afford to examine and repair more thor¬ 
oughly, than can be done by any other known process. 

5th As appendages to building ways, they are important. 

6th As affording the means of ensuring to the ships all the advan¬ 
tages of sailing possessed in their construction. 

Under these respective heads, the Commissioners of the Navy beg 
leave to observe, as regards the 

1st. In Docks, ships are placed in positions perfectly secure, without 
incurring any species of risk, or injury; but in heaving out large ships, 
however great the precaution, it is impossible to avoid straining their 
hulls, and injuring them in a greater or less degree, & the risk in 
frosty weather, when the ropes are brittle, is greatly increased. 

2d. As respects economy of time, in the summer season, or during 
long days, the bottom of a 74, inside and out, may require 12,000 days 
work to repair it. In a dock, where 400 men could conveniently be 
employed, the repair might be made in 30 working days; but on a 
ship hove down, when not more than 60 men could work to advantage 
on the outside, and when onty one side can be worked on at a time, 
and then under the disadvantage of losing at least l-5th of their 
working time, in heaving and righting, every day, it would require 
120 days to accomplish the outside work of 6,000 days. The inside 
work, which must necessarity be suspended during these 120 days, 
and until the ship be finally righted, will require with 200 men, 30 
additional days to perform it, so that while in a Dock, the whole 
work inside and out, could be performed in 30 days, it could not be 
accomplished on a vessel hove down in less than 150 days. Hence, 
a gain, in point of time, during the summer, or the most favorable 
season, of 120 days, in performing 12,000 days’ work. To this gain, 
considerable addition must be made from the circumstance of much 
time, being unavoidably lost, during rainy or stormy weather, when 
the men cannot work on a ship, hove down; when indeed it would be 
dangerous to suffer the ship to remain in that state: whereas, in a 
Dock, with a roof over it, the men could work every day, wet or dry, 
hot or cold, calm or windy. 

Suppose a ship to come into port dismasted, where there is no dock; 
new masts must be made for her before she can be hove down; this 
would require six or eight weeks. But, if there was a dock, she might 
be taken into it immediately, and the work upon her bottom, and her 
masts, might go on at the same time; under such circumstances, a 
dock would save six or eight weeks of time, in commencing the work 
upon a ship’s bottom, during the winter season, particularly in 
situations, where ice may be expected and strong currents prevail. 
The risk in heaving down a large ship would be too serious to be 
incurred, under ordinary circumstances. If attempted, serious con¬ 
sequences might be apprehended. But in situations more favorable, 
during the short days, nearly the whole of the day would be consumed 
in heaving down, and righting, and removing the ice and snow from 
the vessel, stages, and apparatus, for heaving down, before the work 


228 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[20th Congress, 


on the ship could be commenced. This would be incurring great 
mse for little work. 



If such losses of time are shewn with single ships, requiring repair 
in a time of peace, what would be the injury resulting to the Nation 
in time of War, from a squadron coming into port dismasted, crippled 
in action, or from any other cause, requiring extensive repairs ? In 
the winter season, its services, though fully manned, might be wholly 
lost, and when the weather should permit the tedious, hazardous, and 
expensive operation of heaving down, it would unavoidably be 
detained in port a length of time, incacculably greater than would be 
necessary, if we had the conveniences of docks to resort to. 

In every view, it is highly advisable, to make such arrangements, 
and create such facilities, as will enable workmen, in peace or in war, 
to perform the greatest quantum of work in a given time. Docks 
afford these facilities in the repair of ships, while the system of 
heaving down exhibits the most wasteful contrast. 

3rd. As to the economy of docks as a means of repairing our ships, 
when compared with the system at this time from necessity pursued. 

To heave down a ship, a gang of riggers (unnecessary in dock) must 
be employed, their expense would be considerable; and with respect 
to ship carpenters (whose wages are going on, while the ship is 
heaving down and righting) there is in the most favorable weather a 
positive loss of one-fifth of their time, or 20 per cent, of their labor, 
exclusively of the time lost, and dead expense incurred from rains, 
stormy weather, and the disadvantages under which the labour is 
performed. These are possitive unavoidable extra expenses incident 
to and inseparable from the system of repairing large ships by heaving 
them down, under the most favorable circumstances. During the 
winter, or in short days, these expenses and disadvantages are incurred 
to an extent almost so great, as to for bid the operation, under any 
circumstances. While on this branch of the subject, it would be doing 
injustice to omit other important considerations; without docks we, 
of necessity copper our vessels, while on their ways; launching them 
in that state, their copper may sustain serious injury, not to be ascer¬ 
tained till its effects are felt. For instance, a ship under these cir¬ 
cumstances is sent into waters where the worm attacks her timber, 
(exposed by her copper being injured,) and in a very short time, their 
ravages do such injury as to involve expensive repairs, and may even 
compel the ship to leave her foreign station, or cruising ground, to 
return home for repair. 

A'vessel hove down, should have all her seams payed over, before 
she is righted, to prevent the oakum getting out before she is coppered; 
a shower of rain may come on in the afternoon, and continue till it is 
dark; she cannot then be payed, but for safety must be righted, and 
her oakum thus gets wet. Hence, sudden decays and expensive 
repairs must follow in a short time. 

4th. As to the facilities which docks afford for examining and 
thoroughly repairing vessels. 

In a dock, a vessel may, if necessary, have all her planks, inside and 
out, taken off, and the examination and the repair may be made com¬ 
pletely and thoroughly; if occasion requires it, any of her timbers 
may, without incurring any risk, be taken out, and others substituted, 
and abundant time is afforded safely to examine them. But when 
hove down care must be taken not to remove more planks (particu- 


1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


229 


larly below the water line) than can be replaced in the course of the 
day; otherwise the ship would be left exposed during the night, and 
would incur the risk of filling and sinking. These operations are 
made of necessity upon a partial, if not hasty and consequently incom¬ 
plete examination of the ship. In dock, a ship is placed in a secure 
position, effectually shored, and the whole work of repair, inside and 
out, on both sides, may go on at the same time, at all seasons, under 
every attainable advantage; but when hove down, only one side can 
be worked on, at a time, and then under the disadvantage of frequent 
interruptions from rain, stormy weather, ice, strong currents, and 
from the necessity of heaving down every morning, and righting 
every night. 

5th. As appendages to building ways. 

No ship of any magnitude ought to be coppered on her ways; 
because, whatever care may be taken, she is liable to have her 
copper injured from launching, whence the most serious injuries may 
result, and however careful the carpenters and caulkers may be, 
leaks are frequently left. Launching a ship without having coppered 
her, these leaks are immediately discovered and repaired thoroughly, 
when she is taken into dock to be coppered. Hence, all such vessels 
should be first launched, and then taken into dock. When taken 
thence, we may be sure that their bottoms are in perfect condition, 
and that they proceed on service in a state of thorough repair. 

6th. As affording the means of securing our ships all the advan¬ 
tages of sailing, they may possess in their construction. 

Whatever advantages our ships may possess in sailing, are liable to 
serious injury, from heaving‘them down, since, as before observed, 
they are always more or less injured in that operation, and the 
oftener it is repeated, the more are they strained, and otherwise 
injured; we have seen too, that, from being coppered on their wavs, 
they are liable to have their copper injured in launching, and this 
injury (which cannot be discovered until the bottom shall be exam¬ 
ined,) may be such as seriously to impede the sailing of a ship. If 
she be new, and untried, her dull sailing may be attributed to some 
error in her construction, and, ignorant as to the real cause, expensive 
and fruitless experiments may be made to remedy the supposed 
defect. 

To secure to a ship every advantage in sailing, her form should be 
kept to its original state, and her bottom as smooth and clean as 
possible, and with that view it should be frequently examined; such 
an examination cannot be effected by heaving her down, without 
injuring her, and incurring considerable expense and loss of time; 
whereas, in a dock, she can be taken in examined, and thoroughly 
cleansed, without any loss of time, or any material expense. If a 
ship comes into port for supplies of any kind, while they are procuring 
for her, she can undergo this examination and cleansing, which, to 
preserve all her properties of sailing, should take place at least once 
a year. And while on this subject, it may be proper to observe, as 
the result of experience, that copper, when kept clean, will last much 
longer, than when left covered with barnacles and other similar 
substances. 

It will not escape observation that the sailing of a ship of war, 
viewed in reference to attack or retreat, or manoeuvring during battle, 
is of the first importance, since superiority in this respect enables her 


230 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[20th Congress, 


to approach, or retire at pleasure, and in an engagement to secure the 
most advantageous positions. This property is oviously a desidera¬ 
tum in any vessel or war, acting singly. In a squadron of ships, it 
becomes still more important, but each and every ship of the squadron 
should possess it, for should the sailing of any one or them be injured 
by any of the causes stated, or by any other cause, she cannot sail 
in line with the others, without greatly impeding and embarrassing 
their operations. 

Upon the considerations already urged, the Commissioners might 
possibly commit a decision upon the question of Docks; but such is 
their anxiety upon the subject, arising from the conviction of their being 
indispensable to the best interest of the Navy, (inseparable, they hope, 
from the interest of the country) that they trust, you wdll excuse their 
indulging in a few general observations, calculated, they trust, to 
strengthen the views already taken. We have at this time, in ord- 
nary, six ships of the line and five frigates; on the stocks, five ships 
of the line and four frigates, and several others to be built, besides 
sloops of war. None of the vessels in ordinary ought to be sent to 
sea, without having their bottoms examined and cleaned, and, if 
necessary repaired; without Docks, all of them would have to be hove 
out. If their services should be required in winter, the operation of 
heaving out could not take place. It would have to be suspended until 
the weather should be more mild. The consequences in time of war 
might be disastrous, and with respect to those on the stocks and 
hereafter to be built, for the reasons before assigned, they should be 
launched before they are coppered, and then taken into dock, to be 
examined and coppered. 

Suppose, on the eve of a war, 12 sail of the line, 15 frigates and all 
our sloops of war, were ready for service. By having docks their 
properties of sailing might be preserved without loss of time, and 
scarcely any expense. Coming into port, as they would be compelled 
to do at least twice a year for refreshment, while the necessary articles 
should be procured for them, they could be taken into dock and 
cleansed; without docks these advantages could not be secured; 
The ships might, to be sure, be hove down, yet not without injury, 
and a loss of time fully equal, under the most favorable circumstances, 
to l-6th of the year, and a heavy expense arising, not only from the 
operation itself, but from the necessity of displacing and replacing 
every thing necessary for them, such as ballast, provisions, stores of 
every kind, and in short of every thing but their lower masts. Such 
a sacrifice of time would be to incur an expense of 12 months, for ten 
months service. 

So far as respects the important facility of examining ships’ bot¬ 
toms, a few docks would be sufficient for a great number. Double 
the number of ships would not necessarily increase the number of 
docks for this purpose, but the expense of heaving down, is a con¬ 
tinually accruing one, proportionate in amount to the number‘of 
vessels. 

It is presumed that in time of war, our ships of the line would prin¬ 
cipally be employed as a Guarda Costa to repel invasion. In this 
view, the Chesapeake, New York and Boston, may be considered the 
three most important points’ to be guarded, and at each of these 
points, the Commissioners would recommend the construction of a 
dock. 


1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


231 


It may be estimated from .the report of Mr. Baldwin, that a dock 
of sufficient size for a ship of the line would cost about 300,000 
dollars. We probably could not complete one in less time than from 
two to three years, but three may be built at the same time, so that 
an annual appropriation for three years of 100,000 dollars for each 
dock, would probably be sufficient. 

Such an expenditure would in a very few years be refunded by the 
expense which the docks would save; made as they would be, of 
imperishable materials they would last for ages with occasional 
repairs, inconsiderable in amount. On the score of economy then, it 
is obviously advisable to have docks, and to enable the Government 
to command at all times the services of our ships, and to keep them in 
the most efficient state, in all respects, they are indispensable. 

All which is most respectfully submitted. 

Wm. Bainbridge. 

Hon. Sam 1 . L. Southard 

Secretary of the Navy. 


Made Feb 15th 1828 

Read, and ordered to lie upon the table. 

Mr. Miller from The Committee on Naval Affairs to whom was 
referred the petition of James Butler, made the following 

report: 

That they have considered the same and adopt as their report, 
the report made to the House by the Committee 
on Naval Affairs, January 17th 1827—(see page 

226—this book) 

And therefore recommend the following: 

Resolved , That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition. 


Made February 15th 1828 
Read and laid on the table. 

By Mr. Hoffman— 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the peti¬ 
tion of Gratia Ray, respectfully 

report: 

That they have considered the same, and adopt as their report 
the report to this House by the Committee on Naval 
Gratia Ray. Affairs, made January 19th 1827. (See page 229— 
this Book) and therefore recommend the following resolution: 

Resolved , That the petitioner have leave to withdraw her petition. 




232 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[20th Congress, 


Made February 15th 1828 
Read and laid on the table. 

Made by Mr. Miller. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the peti¬ 
tion of Samuel Angus, 

report: 

That they have had the same and the documents therein referred 
to under consideration, and concur with the Committee on Naval 
Affairs of this House in their report made to this 
House, January 20, 1826, which they beg leave to 
adopt as their report; and also the resolution then reported. 

Resolved , That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition. 
(For report above referred to see page 196, this Book) 


Made February 18th 1828. 

Read, & committed to a Committee of the whole House. 

Made by Mr. Ripley. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which the petition of Abigail 
Appleton was referred, 

report: 


That it appears, by the evidence before the Committee, that the 
memorialist is the widow of Daniel Appleton, late of Ipswich, in the 
State of Massachusetts; that her late husband was a 
igai ppe on. seaman on b oarc | 0 f the United States Sloop Frolic, 
which sailed from Boston on the 18th February, 1814, under Captain 
Bainbridge, and was taken prisoner, carried into Halifax, and thence 
to England, and committed to the Dartmoor prison, where he was 
taken with the small pox, of which he died on the 4th of January, 
1815. 


The petitioner represents, that she made application to the Navy 
Department for five years’ half pay, under the provisions of the acts 
of Congress of January 20, 1813, March 4th 1814 and April 16th 
1818, which relate to the subject of pensions to the orphans and 
widows of persons slain in the public or private armed vessels of the 
United States. The Department has expressed an opinion that her 
claim does not come within the letter of those statutes. The Com¬ 
mittee do not hesitate to express an opinion that her claim is clearly 
within the spirit and purpose of the laws referred to, and therefore 
report a Bill to give her five years’ half pay, from the Privateer 
Pension Fund. 

(See doc*, accompanying this report, recorded, page 237 this vol.) 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


233 


Made March 7th 1828 
Read, and laid on the table. 

Made by Mr. Hoffman. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the peti 
tion of Elizabeth Whitehead, 


report: 

That the petitioner alleges that she is old and poor unable to 
maintain herself—a widow and the mother of Joseph Judy; that 
the said Joseph entered the Naval service at Boston as a carpenter’s 
mate on board the Chesapeak in April 1813, and that he was killed 
in the engagement between that vessel and the Shannon. 

The age of Joseph Judy, at the time of his enlistment or death, is 
not certainly ascertained by the proofs, but it is inferable from them 
that he was not a minor, but over the age of twenty one years, and 
there is no proof that he died without leaving a widow or issue, or had 
at all in any way appropriated any part of his pay for the support of 
his mother. This case therefore on the present "proofs does not, in 
the opinion of the Committee, come within the most enlarged rule 
adopted by Congress in granting pensions to the mothers of persons 
killed in the Naval service of the United States; and therefore they 
recommend the following: 

Resolved, That the petitioner have leave to withdraw her petition. 


Made February 21st 1828 
Read and laid upon the table. 

Made by Mr. Miller. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Jane Baker, 

report: 

That the petitioner alleges that she is the widow of Thomas Baker, 
wdio, while a captain in the Navy of the United States, commanding 
jane Baker the sloop of war Delaware on the Curraco station, was 

deprived of his reason, the effects of a fever, and that 
he never recovered his senses; that she is poor, old, and partially 
helpless by the loss of the sight of her left eye. 

The annexed letter of the Secretary of the Navy of February 12, 
1828, proves that Thomas Baker was a Capt. and commanded the 
Sloop of war Delaware, and was pensioned on the 20th day of August 
1801—and received a pension of thirty seven dollars & fifty cents 
per month, until the 8th day of March 1820, the day of his death; 
but cannot state the cause why he was placed on the pension roll, but 
supposes that stated by the petitioner to be the probable one. 

The facts that the petitioner is the widow, yet unmarried of Capt. 
Baker, and that while he was so engaged in the naval service of the 



234 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[20th Congress, 


United States, by reason of the unhealthiness of the climate, where he 
was cruising, he became sick of a fever which destroyed his reason, 
are not proved, except by the oath of the applicant as to her belief; 
and if they were proved, the Committee are of opinion that the case 
of the petitioner would not come within the spirit of the provisions 
heretofore made by law in relation to pensions chargeable on the 
Navy or privateer pension fund; and therefore recommend the 
following resolution: 

Resolved, That the petitioner have leave to withdraw her petition. 


Navy Department, 

12th February 1828. 

Sir: Your letter of this morning, in relation to the petition of 
Jane Baker, widow of the late Capt. Thomas Baker, has been 
received. 

It appears by referrence to the pension roll of this Department, 
that Thomas Baker, Capt. of the United States ship Delaware, was 
pensioned on the 20th August, 1801, & received a pension of $37:50 
per month, until the 8th March 1820, the day of his death. It is 
probable that the cause of pension is correctly stated, but certainly 
on the subject is unattainable, as most of the papers of the date 
referred to were destroyed by the British troops in 1814. Under the 
pension laws now in force, no relief can be afforded by this Depart¬ 
ment. 

I have the honor to be, Sir, 

Your ob*. servb 


Samuel L. Southard. 

Hon. Michael Hoffman 
Chairman &c. 


Made March 7th 1828 

Made by Mr. Hoffman. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition 
w . . .. of Elizabeth Mavs, 

Elizabeth Mays. J ’ 

REPORT: 

That, from the proofs in this case, it appears that the petitioner is 
old, poor, unable to maintain herself, a widow, and the mother of 
Wilson Mays, deceased; that the said Wilson Mays enlisted in the 
Naval service of the United States, as an ordinary seaman, on the 
16th July, 1812, was promoted to a carpenter’s mate, and held that 
station when he was killed, on the 10th of September, 1813, on board 
the Lawrence, without leaving a widow or issue, and that his mother 
received half of his monthly pay, by allotment, at the time of his death. 

The Committee are of opinion that the facts in this case come 
strictly within the rule adopted by the last Congress, in granting a 
pension to Penelope Denny; and, therefore, report a Bill granting to 
Mrs. Mays a pension equal to one half the pay of her son; to be paid 
out of the Navy pension fund, half yearly, for five years, with the 
usual limitations. 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


235 


Navy Department 5th Mar. 1828 
Sir : In answer to enquiries contained in your letter of 25th Feb¬ 
ruary last, I have the honor to state, that Wilson Mays entered the 
Naval service of the United States, as an ordinary seaman, on the 
16th of July 1812; was promoted to Carpenter’s mate, and held that 
station when he was killed, on the 10th September, 1813, on board the 
Lawrence; and that his mother received half his monthly pay, by 
allotment , at the time of his death. 

I am very respectfully, 

Samuel L. Southard. 

Hon. Michael Hoffman 

Chairman, Naval Com ee Ho. Rep s . 


No. 192. 

Made March 14th, 1828. 

Made by Mr. Miller. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the memo- 
Jesse Wilkinson. rial ° f JeSSe Wilkinson, 

. REPORT: 

That the said Jesse Wilkinson was, and is, a Master Commandant 
in the Navy of the United States, and as such, was appointed to the 
Command of the Brig Spark, and was furnished with instructions 
from the Navy Department, dated August 6th 1822, and August 7tli 
1822, under the act, entitled u An act to protect the commerce of the 
United States, and to punish the crime of piracy,” approved March 3. 
1819; directing him to cruise along the coasts of the United States 
and the Floridas, in the Gulf of Mexico, and among the West India 
Islands, and directing him, that whenever he should find any boats 
or vessels, the crews whereof should have committed any actual vio¬ 
lence, outrage, or depredation, upon any vessels of the United States, 
or the citizens thereof, or any other vessels (in the last case, only 
where the depredations were committed under such gross and aggra¬ 
vated circumstances as to leave little doubt of their piratical charac¬ 
ter, he would consider himself authorized to subdue, seize, and take 
them, and unless, on such capture, he should be satisfied that they 
were acting under some lawful authority, and not piratically, to send 
them in for adjudication. In another part of the said instructions, 
the said Jesse Wilkinson, is directed, that, whatever well-grounded 
suspicions he might entertain that a vessel may have been fitted out, 
and was intended to be employed in piratical depredations, he should 
not molest her, unless he had satisfactory evidence she had either 
attempted or actually committed some piratical aggression on some 
merchant vessel of the United States, or her crew, or on some other 
vessel, under the circumstances above men tioned: and he was 
especially instructed, in the execution of these orders, not to infringe 
on the territorial jurisdiction of any other power. The memorialist 
alleges, that, while he was waiting with the said Brig Spark, in the 
port of Havana, for a fleet of merchantmen, which was to sail under 
his convoy, on or about January 23, 1823, he was informed by one 
Thomas Howell, a citizen of the United States, and master of one of 



236 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[20th Congress, 


the vessels belonging to the fleet of merchantmen waiting convoy, 
that a schooner was then lying in that harbor, from on board of which 
an act of robbery and piracy had actually been committed on the 
American schooner Nancy Eleanor, of Baltimore, in the month of 
October preceding: that the memorialist there refused to act in 
relation to-said schooner, being within the jurisdiction of Spain, and 
referred Mr. Howell, with his complaint, to the American Consul, at 
Havana: that he sailed on his accustomed duty on the morning of 
January 28, 1823, and, while lying to, at the distance of four or five 
miles from the coast, he was informed by one of his officers, to whom 
the vessel had been pointed out by Howell, that the piratical schooner 
was standing out to sea—a circumstance which the memorialist had 
not expected, nor had he any knowledge of her, so as to be able to 
identify her; that, being thus informed, and the suspected vessel 
having gotten beyond the Territorial jurisdiction of Spain, he made 
sail in pursuit of her, and arrested her, and sent for Mr. Howell, and 
it is proved, by the papers produced, that the said Howell and one 
Robert Huclgen then came on board of the Spark, and made oath 
before the memorialist that the captured vessel was the same which 
had committed the above stated act of piracy on the Nancy Eleanor, 
and they recognized one of the crew of the captured schooner, as being 
one of the pirates. 

The memorialist alleges he did believe that the captured schooner 
and her crew had committed an act of piracy on the Nancy Eleanor, 
and did, therefore, send her into the United States, under a prize 
officer, for adjudication, as a piratical vessel. 

By the papers, it appears that this schooner is the Ninfa Catalana, 
Don Pablo Daunes, master; that she was brought into Norfolk, and 
by the United States, by Robert Stanard, their attorne} r for the Dis¬ 
trict of Virginia, who prosecuted in this respect, as well for the 
United States, as for the officers and crew of the Brig Spark, was, 
with her tackle, apparel, furniture, and armament libelled in the 
District Court of the United States, for the district of Virginia, on a 
charge of piracy and robbery, committed by her crew, on the Nancy 
Eleanor of Baltimore, a vessel of the United States, in October 1822. 
By the decree of the court, it appears that a hearing in the cause was 
had on the libel; the answer of the said Don Pablo Daunes, and his 
claim exhibited against the cargo; the monition against the memorial¬ 
ist to proceed to adjudication upon the cargo; the protest and answer 
of the memorialist, and the replication thereto, together with the 
exhibits filed, & deposition, and evidence produced by the parties— 
the schooner, her tackle, apparel, furniture, and armament, were 
dismissed from the said libel with damages to be paid b} T the memorial¬ 
ist, for the unlawful capture and detention of the vessel, and for the 
personal sufferings of the crew: and afterwards, on the coming in of 
the report of damages, and after exceptions thereto, on the 5th* day 
of November, 1827, the said court decreed that the said Jesse Wilkin¬ 
son should pay to the said Don Pablo Daunes: 


On behalf of the owners of the schooner. $7.171:03 

With interest on $1,183:31 from February 26th, 1823, until paid; and, on 
$5,987:72, from July 26, 1823 until paid. 

On behalf of the said Don Pablo Daunes, his officers and crew. 1. 900:00 

For advances of the said Pablo. 457:97 

On behalf of the owners of the cargo. 811:77 

With interest thereon, from May 23, 1823, until paid. And the costs of 
suit not stated. 






1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


237 


It appears that the memorialist, November 19, 1827, wrote to the 
Secretary of the Navy, informing him of this decree; asked his advice 
as to the propriety of an appeal, and desired that he might be sus¬ 
tained by the Government in the course he should take on such 
advice; and alleged, that it would be utterly impossible for him to give 
the requisite security to appeal, and that only about fifteen days 
remained, in which to appeal. In the answer of the Secretary of the 
Navy, of November 22 d , 1827, he was informed, that it did not appear 
to the Secretary to be proper for the Department to give advice, or 
make any engagement which would, in the case, create responsibility 
upon the Department, and referred him to Congress, after a full 
defence in the judicial tribunals. 

Throughout, the memorialist alleges that he acted from a sense of 
duty, and in the belief that the Ninfa Catalana, had actually com¬ 
mitted the piracy alleged. At his request to the President, a court 
of Inquiry was appointed to inquire into the conduct of the memo¬ 
rialist in making this capture. The evidence, in the original papers 
on file, in the Navy Department, is too voluminous to be introduced 
here, especially, as the result is stated in the annexed letter of the 
Secretary of the Navy, of August 13, 1823, that “ there was no reason 
to believe but that he acted in good faith, and under the belief that 
he was in the due discharge of his duty.” The Committee assent to 
the correctness of this opinion, and add their belief of the fact, 
alleged by the memorialist, that lie was unable to procure the bail 
required to appeal from the said decree. He alleges his person is 
daily liable to be taken in execution on this demand. 

These, the Committee believe to be the principal facts in the case, 
and they report a bill for the relief of the memorialist. They do it 
upon the ground that the memorialist, at the time of the capture and 
sending in of the Schooner Ninfa Catalana, had good reason to believe, 
and did believe, that she and the crew had committed an act of 
piracy and robbery on the Nancy Eleanor, of Baltimore, a merchant 
vessel of the United States: that he made this capture in good faith, 
and in the reasonable belief that his instructions, under the law of the 
United States, required him to do so; and that he was too poor, and 
unable to procure the bail requisite to enable him to appeal from the 
said decree; that he used his endeavors to procure an appeal to be 
prosecuted; and that as relates to his government, he ought not, 
where he acted from probable cause and under a sense of duty, to be 
made resposible for any act of the prize master, towards the cap¬ 
tured, which he could neither foresee nor prevent. 

The Committee, from the nature of the decree, (part of the money 
bearing interest until paid,) cannot state the exact amount which 
may be necessary to satisfy the money decreed to be paid. They 
therefore, annex a statement of the amount, supposing the rate of 
interest to be 6 per cent, and the time of payment to be May 1st 1828. 


1st. On behalf of the owners of the schooner. $7.171:03 

With interest on $1,183:31 from the 26th of February, 

1823, to May 1st 1828, five years two months and four 

days. 367:60 

Also on 5,987:72 from July 26th, 1823, until May 1st, 1828, 

four years, nine months, four days. 1. 710:49 

2d. On behalf of Don Pablo Daunes.. 1. 900:00 






I 

238 REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. [20th Congress, 

3d. And for his advances... $457:97 

With interest from November 5th, 1827, to May 1st,. 1828, 
five months and twenty five months and twenty five 
days. $68. 77 

4th. On behalf of the owners of the cargo. 811:77 

Interest from May 23d. 1823, to May 1st 1828, four years 
and eleven months, seven days. 240:40 

2.387:26 


Amount of decree, including int. to May 1st 1828.. $12. 728:03 

Add taxed costs as certified. 511:45 


813. 239:48 


(Note —The’letter of the Secretary of Navy, referred to, will be found, with the 
petition & other docts. in printed Reports of Committees 1st. Session 20th Cong- 
Rep No. 192 vol.-) 


Made March 18 1828 

Read, & with the bill committed to a committee of the whole House 

to-morrow. 


Made by Mr. Hoffman. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which were referred the bill 
from the Senate, entitled, “An act to compensate Susan Decatur, 
widow and representative of Captain Stephen Decatur, deceased, 
and others,” and the memorials of Charles Stewart, Robert Thornton, 
F. C. De Krafft, and Michael Carroll, 

report: 

That they have examined the subject, and the several memorials 
and proofs, in support of the claim they assert to a participation in 
the bounty of the Government, to be awarded for the destruction of 
the Frigate Philadelphia, in the harbour of Tripoli, on the 16th day 
of February, 1804. The Committee are of opinion, that the officers 
and crew of the Brig Syren, on that expedition, did every thing that 
could be asked or expected of American seamen ardently devoted to 
the service of their country; but, from the nature of the service, and 
the time and manner in which the destruction of that frigate was 
effected, did not so participate in its destruction as to require that the 
said bill from the Senate should be so amended as to make the memo¬ 
rialists as officers of the brig Syren, and her crew, participators in that 
bounty. 

The Committee, therefore, report that bill, without amendment, 
and recommend the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the prayer of the said memorialists ought not to be 
granted.— 

(The above report with all the documents will be found in printed 
Reports of Com ee 1st Sess. 20th Cong. Rep. No. 201 vol.-) 














1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


239 


No. 209. 

Made March 25th 1828 

Accompanied by a Bill (No 240) which was twice read, and committed 

for to-morrow. 


Made by M r Ripley. 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred a great 
. number of memorials from citizens of various sections of the United 
Explore South Seas. States ’ Paying aid from the Government, in fitting 
out vessels tor an exploring expedition to the Pacific 

Seas, 


report: 

That the number and character of the memorialists, and the 
opinions they have expressed upon the subject of the memorials, have 
called the committee to an attentive and careful consideration of the 
means required for such an expedition, the importance of the interests 
connected with it, and the immediate, as well as ultimate advantages 
it promises to the nation. The Committee do not propose to recapitu¬ 
late their own views upon these subjects, but refer the House to 
documents in their possession, with the general correctness of which 
they are satisfied. 

For information in relation to the means required, they refer‘to a 
communication from the Secretary of the Navy, of the 14th of March, 
1828, in reply to a note addressed to him by the Committee. 

In relation to the interests, individual and national, connected with 
such an expedition, the Committee refer to a statement submitted to 
them by Mr. J. N. Reynolds, on the 10 th February, 1828, in answer 
to inquiries addressed to him, by order of the Committee. So much 
of the statement as exhibits the amount of our commerce in the 
Pacific Seas, the Committee think is fully sustained by the reports of 
the officers of our Navy, who have, by order of the Secretary, here¬ 
tofore made reports upon that subject, to which Mr. Reynolds refers, 
and with which his statement has been compared, as well as with the 
accounts of others familiar with those branches of our trade. 

The dangers to which an immense amount of property is exposed, 
as well as the hazard to human life, for the want of knowledge, by 
more accurate surveys, of the regions to which our commerce is 
extending, and the probable new sources of wealth which may be 
opened and secured to us, seem, to your Committee, not only to 
justify, but to demand the appropriation recommended; they there¬ 
fore report a bill for the purpose. 

(For documents referred to, in the aforegoing report,—See printed 
Reports of Committees 1st Sess. 20th Cong 3 Rep No. 209 vol. —) 


240 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[20th Congress, 


Made April 25, 1828 
Read and Ordered to lie on the table. 

Made by Mr. Hoffman 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of John Gardner, 

report: 

That they have examined the specification annexed to the patent 
granted to the said John, Dec r 3 1802, for erecting Dry Docks on 
navigable waters—and are of opinion that the patent 
ought not to be renewed, and recommend the follow¬ 
ing resolution 

Resolved, That the prayer of the petition ought not to be granted. 


No. 248. 

Made May 6th 1828. 


Made by Mr. Miller— 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Michael Lewis, 

report: 

That the petitioner represents himself to be a pilot of the Bay and 
River Delaware; that he left the port of Wilmington, in the State of 
. North Carolina, on the 20th of December 1813 in the 
United States schooner Vixen, then under the com¬ 
mand of Capt. Thomas Hall, bound to Philadelphia; that while doing 
duty on board said vessel as a coasting Pilot, on the 25th of the same 
month, he was severely wounded by a shot from the British frigate 
Belvidere then in chase of the said schooner; that he was taken 
prisoner and sent to the Hospital at Hamilton in the Island of Ber¬ 
muda, where he remained eighty two days, when, his wounds being 
healed he was transferred to Halifax, and thence to Salem Massachu¬ 
setts—The petition is accompanied by the deposition of the petitioner 
and sundry other documents, by which it is proven to the satisfaction 
of the Committee that the petitioner was at the time of his capture, 
in the regular discharge of his duty as a pilot, and that he has at no 
time received any compensation for his services or detention—It also 
satisfactorily appears, that the wounds of which he complains, were 
received at the time and in the manner by him stated—But by the 
certificate of the surgeon by whom he has been recently examined, 
it would appear that the disability thereby produced has not been 
such as to entitle him to be placed on the list of invalid pensioners. 

The Committee are however of opinion, that he is justly and fairly 
entitled to compensation for his services, and for the time he was 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


241 


detained as a prisoner, the severity of his wounds being such as in all 
probability would have prevented him from engaging in his regular 
pursuits, even if he had been released at an earlier date—The Com¬ 
mittee propose to fix the compensation to be allowed him at $2 per 
day—amounting to three hundred, ninety dollars—and therefor report 
a Bill granting that sum for his relief. 


No. 252. 

Made May 10th, 1828. 

Made by Mr. Dorsey.— 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the memo¬ 
rial and documents of Uriah Brown, relative to a system of harbour 
and coast defence of the United States, by means of “ impregnable 
and invincible fire ships,” 

report: 

That they have examined, with much interest, the subject referred 
to them. It appears that during the late war, the inventor, then a 
Uriah Brown. resident of Baltimore, conceived the plan of a ship 
to be propelled by steam, to be proof against cannon 
shot, and to throw liquid fire upon the ships of the enemy, by the 
means of an ejecting fire apparatus of very great force, placed within 
the vessel. 

To test the inflammable properties of the liquid, when projected, 
experiments were made, and proved highly satisfactory. A com¬ 
mittee was organized, and subscriptions to a large amount made, to 
build a vessel upon the plan proposed. 

The termination of the war arrested any further progress in the 
building of the vessel. 

It appears to your Committee, that the invention has been exam¬ 
ined by scientific men, and its practicability and utility sustained by 
the concurrent testimony of enlightened theorists and practical 
engineers. They therefore deem it their duty to submit to the con¬ 
sideration of Congress, the expediency of authorizing the President 
of the United States to cause experiments to be made, under the 
direction of a Board of Engineers, to ascertain if the interest of the 
United States would be promoted by adopting and incorporating this 
invention with other means of national defence; and, for that pur¬ 
pose, they beg leave to submit a Bill. 

(See printed documents in this case, Reports of Committees 1st 
Session 20 Cong s Rep. No. 252 vol. —) 

39889—10-16 




TWENTIETH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION. 


In the House of Representatives 

of the United States, 

December 3, 1828. 

A Committee on N^val Affairs was appointed, pursuant to the 
standing rules and orders of the House, consisting of 


Mr. Hoffman, Chairman. 
Mr. Bartlett, 

Mr. Crowninshield, 

Mr. Carter, 

Mr. Miller, 

Mr. Dorsey, and 
Mr. Ripley. 


Members . 


SAMUEL ANGUS. 


January 8, 1829. 


Read, and laid on the table. 


M r Hoffman, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Samuel Angus, report: 

That they have had the same, and the documents therein referred 
to, under consideration, and concur with the Committee on Naval 
Affairs in their report to this House, made January 20, 1826, which 
they beg leave, as in their report made at the last Session, to adopt, 
with a resolution. 

Resolved, That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition. 

For Report referred to, see page 196 of this volume. 


243 






244 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[20th Congress, 


Rep. No. 48. 

ALEXANDER CLAXTON. 


January 16, 1829. 

Mr. Miller, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was 
referred the petition of Alexander Claxton, made the following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of Alexander Claxton, report : 

That the petitioner represents, that, while in command of the 
United States’ ship Hornet, in the month of June, 1827, and while 
, the said ship was lying in the harbour of Matanzas, 

his boat, then m search of an American slaver, fell m 
with the English merchant ship James Mitchell, stranded on the coast 
of Cuba, her crew in a state of mutiny, and the ship in imminent peril 
of shipwreck: that he hastened to forward the necessary succour, 
and after securing the mutineers, proceeded to lighten the ship by 
removing a part of the cargo, employing a Spanish droger to assist; 
and that, after great difficulty, he succeeded in getting the ship off 
the rocks, though in a very leaky condition: that the ship was then 
conducted off the Havana, where she was originally bound, and a 
proposition sent to the consignees, requiring indemnity for the 
services rendered, otherwise an appeal would be made to the Courts 
of the United States; and the answer not being satisfactory, the ship 
was carried to Key West, and formally libelled in the District Court of 
St. Augustine. That the Court was pleased to dismiss the suit, at the 
same time burthening the petitioner with the heavy cost of the prose¬ 
cution; and that, from the want of pecuniary means, he was unable 
to appeal to the higher Courts; and, as a last resort, he feels impelled 
to throw himself on the justice of Congress, in the expectation that he 
will be awarded a salvage for the officers and crew out of the amount 
of duties paid on the cargo, as well as the costs attending the trial. 

The proofs of the facts stated are very imperfect. There is no 
authenticated copy of the libel or decree. There is a certificate by 
William Pinckney, Collector of the District of East Florida, dated 
July 12, 1828, that there had been paid into the Treasury twenty 
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven dollars and seventy-cents 
and two-tenths, duties on the cargo of the James Mitchell. There is 
a printed copy of the opinion of the Judge in the case, and some other 
papers. From all these, the Committee are satisfied that the facts 
in the case correctly set forth by the petitioner; but as the evidence 
in the case is not before the Committee, they must consider the decree 
of the Court to be correct, without intimating any opinion as to the 
reasoning by which that decree is sustained by the Judge. 

The Court decided that the salvers would have been entitled to 
reasonable salvage at the Havana, the original port of destination; 
but that they were wrong in taking the ship to Ivey West: and that, 



2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


245 


by so doing, they injured the owners to an amount at least equal to 
the salvage, and therefore dismissed the libel with costs. The Com¬ 
mittee entertain the belief that Captain Claxton acted in good faith, 
and in the line of his duty, in aiding the James Mitchell; and that he 
was induced to bring her to a port in the United States from an appre¬ 
hension that justice might otherwise not be awarded to the officers 
and crew of the Hornet; they have therefore reported a bill to indem¬ 
nify him for the payment of his costs and expenses in prosecuting 
the suit. F 5 

The amount of duties paid on the cargo, as per certificate of the 
collector, is $20,867.70 T \: no bill of the costs of the suit has been 
exhibited to the Committee; but they are estimated not to exceed 
four thousand dollars. 


The expenses incurred by Lieutenant Coxe, under an order from Alexander 
Claxton, Commander of the Hornet, to libel the Jamas Mitchell, are repre¬ 
sented to be. 

Less deductions for pay and subsistence. 


$569.75 
247.00 


Expense of chartering a Sloop to go from Key West to St. Augustine twice. 


322. 75 
550.00 


$872. 75 


WILLIAM GILLIX. 


January 16, 1829. 
Read, and laid on the table. 


Mr. Hoffman, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of William Gillin, respectfully report : 

That the petitioner represents that he was an able bodied seaman 
on board the Philadelphia at the time of her capture by the Tripo- 
lines: was made, and long detained, a prisoner, and by severe usage 
greatly injured and disabled; that by reason of this disability, the 
petitioner was, under the Administration of President Monroe, placed 
on the pension roll equal to half his pay. 

He now asks that there may be granted to him money equal to a 
pension from the time of his injury up to his being placed on the 
pension roll. It does not appear that he was prevented from making 
an earlier application for a pension, or that his application had been 
delayed. The Committee cannot therefore find any sufficient reason 
for granting the relief sought. He does allege that his pension is not 
equal to his disability, and if it is, his relief is provided for by law, 
and may be reached by proof of his increased disability. 

The Committee, therefore, recommend the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 








246 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[20th Congress, 


AUGUSTIN CLAIBORNE, EXECUTOR OF ANGUS O. FRAZER. 


January 16, 1829. 

Read, and laid on the table. 

Mr. Hoffman, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Augustin Claiborne, Executor of Angus O. Frazer, deceased, 
respectfully report: 

That, by the act of Congress, Yol. 6, page 510, approved May 11, 
1820, there was granted to Angus O. Frazer and others, who at the 
time of their seizure of the British Vessel Ardent, in 
E^ U of A in o C1 FraS!’ 1811, were officers of the Cutter Louisiana, the sum of 
$5,239.62, to be distributed among them in such pro¬ 
portions as they are entitled to by the act, vol. 4, page 36, of April 18, 
1806, and as specified in the act of Congress, vol. 3, page 223, Sec. 91, 
approved March 2, 1799, that is, in proportion to the pay of the 
Officers of the Cutter. 

By the libel filed in the case, it appears that the seizure was made 
May 29, 1811. By the duplicate pay-roll of the Cutter, signed by 
Captain Frazer, it appears, that, at the time of the seizure, the said 
Angus O. Frazer was the Captain, Philip A. Bush the first, and Geore 
Smith the second lieutenant of the Cutter. 

The Secretary of the Treasury has paid to the said Angus O. 
Frazer $2,278.09, and to Philip A. Bush $1,594.67, of the above appro- 

S nation, and the residue $1,366.86 was carried to the Surplus Fund, 
ecember 31,1822. 

This distribution of the money appears to the Committee to be 
strictly according to the facts in the case and the law applicable to it. 
On behalf of the petitioner it is alleged that Captain Frazer was the 
only Commissioned officer at the time of the seizure. It appear that 
Captain Frazer himself had at a late period also asserted this position 
and claimed the whole money. But as Captain Frazer has, under 
his hand, stated in the pay roll, that Bush and Smith were lieutenants, 
and received their pay as such, the Committee are of opinion that it 
cannot be alleged in his behalf that they were not such officers. It 
is not necessary, therefore, in the opinion of the Committee, to deter¬ 
mine what would have been the share of Captain Frazer if Bush and 
Smith had not been such officers, or had not had such Commissions, 
though in that case it would seem just that those who were officers 
in fact, and acted as such, should be entitled to a share of the money 
arising from the seizure. 

The Committee are, therefore, of opinion that the Memorialist take 
nothing by his petition, and recommend the following resolution: 
Resolved. That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 



2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


247 


ANTHONY GALE. 


January 27, 1829. 

Read, and laid upon the table. 

Mr. Ripley, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the follow¬ 
ing 

report : 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Anthony Gale, respectfully report: 

That the petitioner sets forth that he served in the Marine Corps, 
from July 11, 1798, to September, 1820, at which last period he was 
Lieutenant Colonel Commandant of the Corps; that previous to the 
last date, he had become insane, and while insane was tried by a 
Military Court Martial, convicted and dismissed the service, and 
prays that his pay, &c. as if he had continued in command of the 
Corps, be paid to him, amounting to $14,208, exclusive of forage not 
charged. 

The offences of which he was convicted are not stated, nor the 
evidence on which the conviction was founded. It is therefore, under 
these circumstances, to be presumed that the conviction rested upon 
proof of the facts charged. The petitioner does not complain that 
the Court erred in matter of law or fact, but that he was insane, and 
therefore not subject to be tried. 

Insanity to such a degree as to make him an unfit subject of trial 
and punishment, would doubtless have been regarded by the Court 
before whom he was tried. It is not complained that the Court in 
any respect erred as to any question of insanity raised before them; 
and it would be very dangerous, after the lapse of many years, to 
permit a person convicted, after punishment, to allege his insanity 
at the time of trial for error. Such allegation cannot be supported 
by exparte testimony; and the Committee do not feel disposed, in 
this instance, to erect themselves into, or to recommend the creation 
of, a tribunal to try the question. 

If the sentence of the Court Martial was reversed and annulled, 
still, in the opinion of the Committee, it was the right and duty of the 
Executive to judge of the sanity of the petitioner. He himself 
alleges that he was insane, and this was good cause for removing him 
from the Command of the Corps. And if the President believed his 
insanity so great as permanently to disqualify him for the command, 
then it was his duty to dismiss him from the service. In this instance 
the Committee see no reason to question the correctness of the 
decision of the President. 

They therefore recommend the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 


248 


REPOETS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[20th Congress, 


Rep. No. 61 . 

NAVY HOSPITAL FUND. 


January 31, 1829. 

Mr. Miller, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which the 
subject had been referred, made the following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, who were directed by a resolution 
of the House of December 17, 1828, to inquire into the expediency 
of making an appropriation in favor of the Navy Hospital Fund of the 
amount due to the said fund from the Treasury of the United States, 
for the purpose of effecting the objects contemplated by the act 
establishing Navy Hospitals, report: 

That they have considered the subject; and annexed to this report 
are papers containing information from the Navy Department relating 
to it. 

The “Marine Hospital Fund” was instituted by the “act for the 
relief of sick and disabled seamen, passed July 16, 1798. It directed 
a deduction of twenty cents per month from the wages of seamen on 
board the ships and vessels of the United States, to be employed, 
under the direction of the President of the United States, for the relief 
of sick and disabled seamen, and, if sufficient, for the erection of 
hospitals for their accommodation. 

By the second section of the act of March 2, 1799, the Secretary of 
the Navy is authorized to deduct twenty cents per month from the 
pay of every officer, seaman, and marine, for the use of the Marine 
Hospital Fund; and by the third section of the said act, they are 
entitled to receive the same benefits from the funds as were provided 
for sick and disabled seamen of the merchant vessels. 

The act of February 26,1811, established the “Navy Hospital Fund,” 
and placed it under the direction of Commissioners to provide sites 
and erect Navy Hospitals, and at one of the establishments to provide 
a permanent asylum for disabled and decrepid Naval officers, seamen, 
and marines. The contributions for this fund are directed to be fifty 
thousand dollars, appropriated out of the balance of the Marine 
Hospital Fund, of which there was then paid only $3,782.86; the 
residue having been expended by the United States, without ever 
having relieved any officer, seamen, or marine by any part of it. The 
residue of the said $50,000, viz. $46,217.14, has since been appropriated 
to the Navy Hospital Fund, by the act oFMay 24, 1828. The other 
contributions to this fund were the twenty cents per month to be 
deducted from the wages of the officers, seamen, and marines, any 
pension chargeable on the Navy Pension Fund of a person maintained 
in the hospital, and the fines imposed on officers, seamen, and 
marines. 



2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


249 


This brief history of the fund is given to prove that, with the 
exception of the two last mentioned sources of revenue, the entire 
moneys of the fund are the private property of the officers, seamen, 
and marines, earned by them on a contract with the United States, 
and paid by them into the public Treasury, to be applied for the sole 
and exclusive benefit of the donors and actual founders of this sacred 
charity. 

In the case of a Corporation, the right of visitation would belong 
to the “officers, seamen, and marines;” and at its dissolution the 
property would revert to their legal representatives. In this case, the 
United States are only trustees, whose duty is so much the more 
sacred, as it rests upon the inviolability of the public faith. The 
principal of the money must, by all the moral force of the strongest 
obligations of the United States, be applied to the purposes declared 
by the act of February 16, 1811; and if the United States has had the 
use of any part of the money, the interest, in the opinion of the 
Committee, is a debt due from the United States, secured by the public 
faith; and the Committee will not believe that the United States can, 
in a trust of this sacred and inviolable nature, refuse to pay interest 
in a case where equity would decree it against an individual. 

The inquiry then is, what has been realized from this fund; how has 
it been expended; what is in equity due to the fund; and what will 
be the consequences of withholding "the appropriation requisite for the 
progress of those works of patriotic benevolence ? 

Including the $3,782.86, paid by the Marine Hospital Fund, the 
$46,217.14 cents, appropriated bv the act of May 24, 1828, and 
$415.58, the rent of the Hospital estate at Chelsea, Massachusetts, the 
whole amount of money which has been carried to the Navy Hospital 
Fund is 

$328, 597. 93 


There has been expended prior to October, 1811. 10, 652. 85 

Since that time, in purchasing land and the erection of buildings at 

Philadelphia. 162,136. 82 

At Norfolk. 121, 200. 00 

At Chelsea and Brooklyn. 30,140. 23 

Contingents. 1,180. 49 


$325, 310. 39 


Remaining. $3, 287. 54 


Looking only to the private contributions of the officers, seamen, 
and marines, it is believed that the claims of the fund against the 
United States may be thus stated: 

1. The principal moneys deducted from the pay of the officers, seamen, 
and marines, before the passage of the act of February 16, 1811, over 
and above the $50,000 directed by that act to be paid, and which the 


United States has continued to use, is. $57, 762. 80 

2. Interest on that sum from February, 1811, to February 1829, 18 years. 62, 383. 82 

3. Interest on $46,217.14, from February 26, 1811, to May 24, 1828, when 

it was appropriated. 47, 612. 75 


Making a balance of. $167,759.37 



















250 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[20th Congress, 


For the appropriation of which sum, a bill is herewith reported. 

This claim is rested by the Committee upon the facts, apparent 
from the law itself, that the principal claimed is the 
fwkl 7 Hospital private property of the officers, seamen, and marines, 
to be applied for their sole use and benefit; and that 
either the United States had applied the same to some other use 
than that contemplated by the founders of this charity, and declared 
in the act creating it; or, since February 16, 1811, when the account of 
it should have been taken, the United States has kept and retained 
the money to their own use, and should, therefore, pay the interest 
thereon. It would be but justice, scarcely rising to the liberal, to 
pay also to the fund the interest, which before February 16, 1811, 
had accrued on the moneys paid into the Treasury by the twenty cent 
monthly contributions of the officers, seamen, and marines; and the 
only reason why the Committee do not provide for the payment of it 
at this time, is the apprehension that doubts might arise whether the 
moneys previous to that time had been actually used by the United 
States for other purposes. They have, therefore, only provided for 
that part of the claim as to which they believe there can be no doubt. 

Founding this conjecture upon the past, the Secretary of the Navy 
estimates the probable income of the fund at between fifteen and 
twenty thousand dollars a year, for some time to come. The Depart¬ 
ment is not able, at this time, to state what sums will be required for 
the hospitals during the present year ; still, when the sums already 
expended are recollected, and when it is understood by his estimates, 
that, to complete the buildings, walls, fences, &c. &c. at Philadelphia, 
875,000 will be required, and at Norfolk $50,000, it cannot be doubted 
but that a large sum will be necessary to carry on these several works 
with that advance towards completion which is necessary to avoid 
great and destructive waste and decay; and that the whole amount 
due from the United States to the fund, as well as that which will 
accrue for some years to come, will be required to complete the 
buildings already commenced, as well as then contemplated to be 
erected at those other places where sites have been already purchased. 
The appropriation, therefore, of the money now proposed will be a 
mere act of justice to the donors and founders of these hospitals: it 
will be a payment of a debt long withheld, but paid at a time when 
it is much needed, and will prove most serviceable. 

These reasons, which the Committee consider as addressed to the 
justice of the United States, may be applied most strongly to her 
interest. In some respects, the course of future events can scarcely be 
doubted. If our country avoids the calamities of war, it must be 
because she shall appear, and really be, ready to prosecute it vigor 
and success. Our collisions, like our commerce, must be on the ocean; 
there, also, must be our power to resist oppression and punish injus¬ 
tice. Artists and funds will supply most gallant ships; liberal pay, 
the rewards in a share of prizes, the honors and respects of office, a 
love of glory and desire of service to their country, will gather round 
your flag officers of the greatest worth, patriotism, bravery, and skill; 
desirous of emulating the glorious achievements of those by whom 
that flag has been consecrated to victory. But your seamen—they 
who man your ships, sustain your flag, your honor, your glory, and 
your interests—what shall reward them? their pay comparatively 
small, their devotion constant, leading a life which scarce allows them 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS, 


251 


a home, they have little opportunity to provide for sickness or old 
age, while the duties they perform in sickly climates, amidst storms, 
in the perils of battle, all expose them to loss of limbs and health, and 
to premature old age. Any pension which the Government can 
grant will scarcely sustain them in sickness and the tedious decrepi¬ 
tude of old age. Hence it is that a Naval hospital is so strongly 
desired by the seamen. However regardless he may be of toil and 
danger, he is mindful of this: he looks to it as a home in sickness, 
infirmity, or old age. To him it is the asylum where he would spend 
his last days in peace and hope, surrounded by, and associated with, 
the companions of his former glory. To the Naval service of every 
other country they have been found indispensable. It is here only, 
where seamen are free and patriotic, that inlistments can be made 
without such inducements. If, therefore, the United States owed 
nothing, as she owes these asylums much; if she, only looks to them 
as the home of her gallant seamen; if she regards the greater ease of 
enlistment by reason of this humane provision, the Committee are of 
opinion that the appropriation no recommended should be made. 
To refuse it, the Committee believe, would cause great waste and 
dilapidation in the edifices now erecting, deprive our seamen of a most 
comfortable hope, and work a serious injury to the Naval service. 

Note.— For documents accompanying the aforegoing report, see 
printed Report No. 61, recorded at page 326 of this volume. 


Rep. No. 84. 
HENRY ECKFORD. 


February 17, 1829. 

Mr. Hoffman, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was 
referred the case of Henry Eckford, made the following 

report : 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of Henry Eckford, respectfully report: 

By the papers referred to the Committee, it appears that Captain 
Isaac Chauncey, while in command at Sackett’s Harbor during- the 
late war, as the Agent of the United States, and for the use thereof, 
and with the public money, purchased three pieces of land at Sackett’s 
Harbor, and which were afterwards conveyed by him to the then Sec¬ 
retary of the Navy. 

By the extracts from the records of deeds in the county of Jefferson, 
it appears that Captain Chauncey obtained the following conveyances, 
on the said extracts numbered— 

No. 6—By deed dated December 28, 1814, in consideration of 
13000, of “Navy Point” so called, and whereon the military estab¬ 
lishment of Fort Tompkins is erected. 



252 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[20th Congress, 


No. 7—May 10, 1814. Consideration $193.75, of about three acres 
three roods and twenty perches, called “Hospital ground.” 

By the papers in the case, these parcels of land appear to have been 
conveyed to Mr. Eckford for the original consideration paid therefor 
by Captain Chauncey, with interest thereon up to the time of pur¬ 
chase. One moiety was conveyed July 1st, 1815, and the residue in 
1820, by contract executed in 1822. 

The papers in this case contain the most satisfactory proof that the 
purchase of these lots was made by Captain Chauncey, as the agent of 
the United States, for the use of the United States, and were, in point 
of fact, paid for by the public money, and the money by him regular^ 
charged in account against them, but which, as is alleged by him and 
the Secretary of the Navy, was disallowed by the proper accounting 
officers of the Government. 

By the report of Captain Woolsey to the Navy Commissioners, of 
August 24, 1816, it appears that, on Navy Point, he erected a small 
and cheap barrack before the war, and in 1812 the work called Fort 
Tompkins; that Captain Chauncey purchased the property, in aid of 
the Military and Naval operations of the Government; that after 
this purchase, Captain Chauncey “made some addition to the work, 
“by erecting two flanks to the battery, raised the merlons, erected 
“platforms, built the marine barracks, block-house, and a rigging loft, 
“and had the whole picketted and palisadoed in.” “On Navy Point 
“is the New Orleans, covered with a superior framed building, afford¬ 
ing store-room enough for whatever this station can possibly 
“require; also, a joiner’s and boat-builder’s shop, a mess house and 
“blacksmith’s shop.” “All the improvements on Navy point have 
“been made by the Department.” “The buildings on the point are 
“valued at not less than $16,000.” The value of the hospital is $3,500. 

The Secretary of the Navy, in his letter of January 7, 1829, to the 
chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs, states, that “Mr. 
Eckford built a house “on part of the land, which [house] was pur¬ 
chased of him by Commodore Chauncey, to be used as a hospital, 
“for the sum of $2,478, and paid on the 28th January 1815.” As 
this is said in answer to an inquiry of the moneys paid by the United 
States to M-. Eckford, the Committee understand by- it that the 
United States have paid Mr. Eckford for the hospital buildings, with 
the incidental right to use them as a hospital. 

All these facts were well known to Mr. Eckford at the time of his 
purchase of these two lots. He built the ship standing on Navy 
Point, and was familiarly acquainted with the progress of the public 
works at Sackett’s Harbour. On his application to Congress for 
relief in the premises, the Committee consider Mr. Eckford as a pur¬ 
chaser from the trustee of the United States of the trust estate, with a 
full knowledge of the trust, bound in equity and good conscience to 
execute that trust, and secure to the United States the use of the 
property in question, and entitled to all the benefits of a trustee 
holding this property for their use. These benefits are, on the 
execution of a proper conveyance, to receive of the United States the 
consideration money paid, and remaining unpaid, the interest 
thereon, and any actual expense which the trustee may have neces¬ 
sarily incurred in the care and preservation of the trust estate. 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


253 


The information in the possession of the Committee may not enable 
them to ascertain the precise amounts of these moneys. But they 
can approximate to it, so as not to do injustice to Mr. Eckford. 

The original consideration money for Navy Point and Hospital 
Ground, as above stated, is $3,193.75; the annual interest on which, 
at 7 per cent, the legal rate of interest in that State, $223.56; and by 
Mr. Eckford’s account, it appears that the Secretary of the Navy has 
paid him, as for the rent of this property, at the rate of $290 per' 
annum, for eight years, from January 1, *1815, to January 1, 1823, 
amounting to $2,320. As this supposed rent greatly exceeds the 
interest on the consideration for the period specified, it may be con¬ 
sidered as a full compensation for such interest and all reasonable 
charges for the care of the trust estate, during the period alluded to. 


The consideration money will then be. $3,193. 75 

The interest thereon, from the first day of January, 1823, at 7 per cent, per 
annum, the legal rate of interest of the State where the estate is situate, 
to May 1 , 1829, six years and four months, will be. 1 , 415, 88 


$4, 609. 63 

The Committee are not informed that Mr. Eckford has been subject 
to any charges for the care of this land, since January 1 , 1823; and 
they consider the great rent paid for the then eight preceding years 
Henry Eckford as an am pl e satisfaction of all prior claims, if any, 
of that nature. They report a bill to enable the Sec¬ 
retary of the Navy, on the execution of a proper conveyance to the 
United States, to pay to Mr. Eckford the consideration money for 
these two lots of land, and the unpaid interest thereon. 

The papers laid before the Committee do not contain such informa¬ 
tion as to enable the Committee to decide on the subject of the claim 
for the property at Stores’ harbor. If, as the Committee are informed, 
one of the public vessels has been built thereon with the consent of the 
owners, and is standing thereon, it would be just for the United States 
to pay a ground rent for so much of the land as has been, and is 
actually occupied by the United States. In his letter to the Secretary 
of the Navy, of January 29, 1828, Mr. Eckford offers to sell his 
property at Stores’ harbor for $5,000, and describes it as three hundred 
acres of land, covered with heavy timber. At this rate, the land 
would average $16§ per acre, a high price for wood land in that quarter 
of the country. The Committee have no information of the precise 
quantity of the land actually occupied by the United States. A few 
acres would appear to be sufficient ; and though they may be of greater 
than the average value of the lot, it appears that the value of the land 
occupied by the United States is small, and that, as it is a part of a 
wood lot, the rent would be quite small. The annual appropriations 
have and will put it in the power of the Secretary of the Navy to pay 
any such reasonable rent. On the propriety of the United States 
purchasing this land, the Committee have not the information to 
enable them to judge. 





254 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[20th Congress, 


Rep. No. 85. 

PRIVATEER PENSION FUND. 


To accompany Bill H. R. No. 445. 


February 17, 1829. 

Mr. Hoffman, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which the 
subject had been referred, made the following 

report : 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the report 
of the Secretaiy of the Navy, made to the President of the United 
States, of November 27, 1828, respectfully beg leave to report on so 
much thereof as relates to the Privateer Pension Fund, and the 
pensions chargeable thereon: 

That the Privateer Pension Fund was instituted by the 17th section 
of the act of June 26, 1812, (vol. 4. p. 453.) Two per centum of the 
prize money arising from captures and re-captures by the private 
armed vessels of the United States, are appropriated, ‘‘and pledged 
by the Government of the United States as a fund for the support and 
maintenance of the widows and orphans of such persons as may be 
slain, and for the support and maintenance of such persons as may 
be wounded and disabled on board of the private armed vessels of the 
United States, in any engagement with the enemy, to be assigned and 
distributed in such manner as shall hereafter by law be provided.” 

The fund was therefore created for two purposes: first, the mainte¬ 
nance of widows and orphans of those slain; and second, of the 
wounded and disabled. As this is a charitable fund, pledged to these 
purposes, the Committee do not feel at liberty to inquire into the 
policy of discontinuing the application of it to the “maintenance of 
the widows and orphans of those slain.” The United States, as 
trustee, stands pledged to apply it to this purpose; and as it is the 
first set down in favor of the contributors, it is reasonable to judge it 
was dearest to them. They appear, like husbands and fathers, to 
have felt more for their wives and children than for themselves, and 
to have been desirous of first providing for them; and the Committee 
cannot desire to see this manly wish defeated. 

The second section of the act of February 13, 1813, (vol. 4. p. 498,) 
grants pensions to officers, seamen, or marines, in the private armed 
vessels, “who shall have been wounded or otherwise disabled in any 
engagement with the enemy,” and fixes the rates of pension for the 
greatest disability; a copy of which section is annexed. By the act 
of August 2, 1813, (vol. 4. p. 631,) this act is explained and extended 
so as to grant pensions to those “who shall have been wounded or 
otherwise disabled in the line of their duty,” &c. This is perhaps, 
an extension beyond the object declared, in the act instituting the 
fund. 

The pensions chargeable on this fund to widows and children are 
granted by the first section of the act of March 4, 1814, (vol. 4, p. 652,) 




2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


255 


and extend to all cases where the officer, seaman, or marine, in the 
private armed vessels, shall die, or shall have died, (sine June 18, 
1812,) by reason of a wound received in the line of his duty.” The 
term is limited to four years, and also to the widowhood of the pen¬ 
sioner, and to children under 16 years of age, and is charged exclu¬ 
sively on this fund, and is limited to half the monthly pensions to 
which the deceased, if disabled, would have been entitled by law. 

These pensions to the widows and children, charged on this fund, 
were extended by the act of April 16, 1818, sec. 2, (vol. 6, p. 291,) for 
the further term of five years. And the second section grants a like 
pension for five years, on the usual limitations to the widows and 
children of such “officers, seamen, and marines” as 4 ‘shall have died 
since, (June 18, IS 12,) in consequence of any accident or casualty 
which occurred while in the line of his duty.” 

All these pensions to widows and children are extended by the act 
of April 9, 1824, (vol. 7, p. 232,) for the “further term” of five years 
from and after the period of the expiration of the said pensions 
respectively. This act grants no new pensions, and only extends the 
period of those already granted. 

The act of May 26, 1824, continues for five years the pensions to 
widows and orphans charged on this fund, and which, before the 
passage of the act of April 9, 1824, had expired. 

The second section of the act of May 23, 1828, (vol. 8, p. 66,) 
extends the pensions chargeable on the privateer pension fund, 
granted to all widows, in the words of the act, “who now are, or at 
any time within one year have been, in the receipt thereof, under the 
provision of the following laws,” namely, the acts of March 4, 1814, 
and April 16, 1818. 

The Secretary of the Navy, in his report to the President of Novem¬ 
ber 27, 1828, says, “It will be perceived by this statement, that, at 
“the date of the act of the last session, (23d May, 1828,) and for one 
“year preceding it, there were no persons in the receipt of a pension 
“under the acts of 1814 and 1818; the pensions under those acts 
“having expired two or three years preceding.” 

The Committee do not seek to disturb any restraining rule adopted 
by any of the Executive Departments of the Government, and think 
it desirable that each should, as in this case, confine itself within its 
certain powers. 

The state and condition of the fund in 1827, is stated in the annexed 
letter of the Secretary of the Navy to the chairman of the committee, 
of February 21, 1828. 


At one time the stocks of the fund amounted to. $209, 580. 65 

They had, in 1827, been reduced. 138, 882. 41 

Leaving only. 70, 698. 24 

Yielding an interest of. 4, 241. 89 

The probable annual expense to the fund, for the pensions of the disabled 
officers, seamen, and marines, was estimated at. 5, 000. 00 


The actual amount of money remitted to pay pensions charged on 
this fund from 1818 to 1827, both inclusive, was $250,402.04, or 
25,040.20 average for each of the ten } r ears. The first of these years 
required $17,532, and in 1827 there was required $17,284. Hence it 
appears that not even the pensions of the invalids can be paid 
without invading the principal money of the fund; and if the pensions 
of the widows are also to be paid, a rapid reduction must take place 
in the money of the fund. 







256 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[20th Congress, 


The progress of the fund for 1828 is stated in the letter of the 
Secretary of the Navy to the Chairman of the Committee on Naval 
Affairs, of February 11, 1829, and is, briefly, 


1. Amount of its stock at the close of 1828 was. $68, 272. 50 

2. Income during 1828. 4, 210. 60 

3. Pensions chargeable to the fund for that year were 

To invalids. $6, 220 

To widows and orphans. 10,830 

- $17, 050. 00 


The invalid pensions therefore, exceed the income of the fund by 
$2,008.40; and the aggregate of invalid widows and orphans' pensions 
exceed that income by $13,939.40. 

Your Committee must remark that the evident design of the act 
establishing the fund was to place the pensions of the widows and 
orphans on at least as favorable a footing as that of invalids. The 
orphan children of those slain in the private armed vessels of the 
United States must all, or nearly all, have attained an age when they 
can, by industry, provide for themselves. Humanity may not 
oblige Congress to burthen the fund with pensions for them; but the 
widow of the deceased has become aged and enfeebled; she was 
pensioned when she was younger and more active, and humanity 
forbids that her pension should be taken from her to enable the fund 
to support others, who, though wounded and disabled, were less 
unfortunate than the brave men, who, slain in our battles, left this 
fund a legacy, first to the widow, and, after her, to the invalid. The 
Committee are of opinion that the pensions allowed should have been 
so graduated as not to have exceeded the annual product of the fund; 
or, if to have exceeded it at all, yet in so small a sum as to have 
rendered it certain that the pensions granted to persons when young 
should not be denied to them under the increase of years and infirm¬ 
ities. 

Adopting this principle, and estimating as well as may be the 
uncertain information obtained on the subject, the Committee 

Privateer Pension recommend, 

Fund - 1. The appropriation to the fund of $50,000; 

2. The reduction of the invalid pensions for the highest rate of dis¬ 
ability, thus: 


Of a Captain, from. 

Lieutenant and Sailingmaster. 
Marine Officer' 

Boatswain 
Gunner 
Carpenter 
Master’s Mate 
Prizemaster 

All other officers.... 

Of a seaman or marine. 


$20 to $10 per month. 
12 to 8 do. 


10 to 7 do. 


8 to 6 do. 

6 to 5 do. 


3. The widows to one half these rates proposed for the greatest dis¬ 
ability. 

This reduction in the rates of the pensions is forced upon the Com¬ 
mittee by the exhausted condition of the fund, and the extreme 
necessities of the pensioners. Such a distribution of the charity 
appears indispensably necessary to afford to the widows the aid con¬ 
templated by the institution of the fund; and the Committee do not 
beJieve that there is in the proposed measure any breach of the public 
faith to the invalids. So far from it, they are convinced that good 













2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


257 


faith requires that the widows should be made participators in the 
benefits of the fund. They believe that no generous but disabled 
seaman would willingly partake in this fund to the exclusion of the 
aged and helpless widow of the companion of his toils and dangers; 
and they think that a past rather improvident exhaustion of the fund 
ought not to withdraw from the widow or the wounded and now aged 
& enfeebled pensioner, the pension which a more prudent management 
of the fund would have continued. 

All these pensions are by express words limited to the privateer 
pension fund alone. But the Committee believe that public policy 
requires the appropriation now recommended in aid of it. 

The statesman who shall induce the nations to concur in one 
common judgment to denounce and punish as contrary to the law of 
nations the right of warfare on private property on the high seas will 
be the greatest benefactor of mankind. While the right remains, to 
this country, at least, the right of private warfare under letters of 
Marque and reprisal, will be of inestimable value. Every act which 
will make the exercise of this right difficult, slow, and expensive, in 
so far destroys the common defence. Every act which makes the 
exercise of this right easy, speedy, and efficient, contributes to the 
security of peace by the danger it threatens to the public enemy in 
war. And the exercise of this right, by the destruction of the 
enemy's commerce, by the rewards it confers on our brave and 
patriotic fellow-citizens, is among our best, most extensive, and most 
efficient means of conquering an honorable peace. 

The Committee, therefore, feel it a strong duty to furnish the relief 
contemplated by the men whose valor and enterprise collected this 
fund from the grasp of the public enemy, that in all times coming the 
citizen may, in his own private armed vessel, with the more safety, 
alacrity, and zeal, engage in the defence of the Republic. 

Note. —For documents referred to in the aforegoing report see 
printed report No. 85, recorded at page 330 of this volume. 


Rep. No. 104. 
NAVY PENSION FUND. 


March 2, 1829. 

Read, and, with the accompanying documents, referred to the 
Secretary of the Navy. 

Mr. Hoffman, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which the 
subject had been referred, made the following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs respectfully report: 

That they have had under consideration the subject of the Navy 
Pension Fund, and the pensions to widows and orphans charged 
thereon. If the Committee had obtained the desired information on 

39889—10-17 




258 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[20th Congress, 


these subjects, it was their design to make a detailed report in rela¬ 
tion to them. 

In order to judge of the probable future capacity of the fund to pay 
pensions; the Committee deem it necessary to know, for each of 
several past years, on the one hand, the prize moneys, the dividends 
on bank stocks, the interest on United States stocks, and every other 
source of profit accrued to the fund; and, on the other hand, for 
corresponding years, the pension money paid by the fund, designating 
the amount of such pensions granted under each particular act of 
Congress, and also the commissions and premiums paid on the 
purchase of stocks, and every other loss or charge to the fund. To 
this should be added a statement of the moneys of the fund, and the 
stocks belonging to it, and their value, except in the case of United 
States stocks. Without this information, the Committee are now 
persuaded they could not recommend, for the adoption of the House, 
such measures as may be necessary to increase the revenue of the fund 
or save it from losses, or to judge of its probable income for succeeding 
years. The amount of the pension money paid in each year, under 
any one act of Congress, is clearly necessary to enable the House to 
judge of the probable effect of repealing, or re-enacting, or extending 
any such act. 

In search of so much of this information as the Committee then 
supposed necessary to their action, they caused their chairman to 
write his letter to the Secretary of the Navy, of December 15, 1828, 
which was sent at that time. Owing to some misapprehensions on 
the subject, that letter was not as full and precise as the Committee 
since find it should have been. A full answer to it would have been 
of great service to the Committee. Their Chairm shortly after, in 
company with one of the Committee, called on the Secretary at his 
Office, and explained the wishes of the Committee, and the nature and 
purpose of the information they desired. Subsequently, he made a 
like call at the Department, and made several addition explanations 
to the Chief Clerk. The Secretary was then reputed to be ill, and 
confined to his house. 

A reply to this note was received on the 27th January, 1829, dated 
the preceding day. The delay, the Committee are informed and 
believe, was attributable to the preceding protracted bad health of 
the Secretary; and perhaps the same circumstance may be con¬ 
sidered the cause of the great defects in this reply. The Committee 
submit that it contains almost literally none of the information 
asked. 

To ascertain the past income accrued to, and the pensions paid by, 
the fund, the reply refers the Committee to the annual report of the 
Commissioners of the Fund. The Committee have looked there in 
vain for the desired information. Its defects are partially pointed 
out in the letter of the Chairman of the Committee to the "Secretary 
of the Navy, of February, 19, 1829. The Committee are of opinion 
that the annual report ought clearly to exhibit, 

1st. The money accrued to the fund from sales of prizes, dividends 
on bank stocks, interest on United States stocks; from all other 
sources of profit, such as the purchase of good stocks below par: 

2d. All moneys paid by the fund for pensions, designating the 
amount paid for pensions granted under each particular act of Con¬ 
gress; for premiums and commissions on the purchases of stocks; for 
other charges, specifying them: 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


259 


3d. A statement of all losses by reason that any of the moneys of 
the fund had been uninvested, and the causes of the delay to invest: 

4th. A list of the pensioners, and the amount actually accrued to 
each during the year for which it is rendered, designating, in the case 
of each granted within the year, the act under which it is granted; 
and in the case of a pension to a widow or orphans, the time of the 
death of the husband or father, the cause of the death, and when that 
cause arose, accrued, or happened. 

By this enumeration of the requisites of this report, the Committee 
do not mean to designate its form, or to dispense with any facts 
usually reported. The requisites above designated appear essential 
to judge or the future probable income of the fund, ancl the practical 
operation on it of anv one act of Congress. 

To obtain the information necessary to ascertain the practical 
operation of the act of March 3, 1817, and whether any error had 
taken place in granting or refusing Navy pensions to widows and 
orphans, the chairman of the Committee moved the resolution calling 
on the Secretary of the Navy, adopted by the House January 30, 
1829. The Secretary’s letter, in answer to this call, was received 
February 7, 1829, and the papers accompanying it, contain useful 
information. Two causes rendered the reply less useful than it would 
otherwise have been: first, a mistake in the copy sent, purely acci¬ 
dental, of the word whence instead of when; and, second, the fact 
that many of the applicants for pensions refused under the act of 
1817, had withdrawn their papers; and many more, whose cases, it 
is believed by the Secretary, would come within the provisions of that 
act, have not made their applications. To make this call as perfect 
as possible in the answer to be given, the chairman submitted a 
resolution on the 9th of February, which was adopted on the 11th, 
and to which no answer had been received when this report was drawn. 
The Committee are informed that it will contain all, or nearly all, the 
particulars for which it calls. 

In order to remove the difficulties experienced by the Committee in 
relation to the income, charges, stocks, and moneys of the fund, one 
of their number (Mr. Miller) submitted a resolution, calling on the 
Secretary of the Navy for information, which was adopted by the 
House on the 3d of February, 1829, the answer to which, from the ill 
health of the Secretary, and multiplied engagements of the Clerks in 
the offices, was not received until the 28th of that month. The 
information it contains will be found in the statements prepared by 
the Fourth Auditor: Its defects are pointed out, in two particulars, 
by the letter of Mr. Miller of the Committee, to the Secretary of the 
Navy, of February 20, 1829, and in another particular, (the moneys 
of the Fund,) in the letter of the chairman of the Committee to the 
Secretary of the Navy, of Februarv 21, 1829. This last error would 
have shown a deficit in the fund of about $281,384.72, which, by the 
letter of the Secretary of the Treasury of the 25th February, 1829, 
in answer to one of the Chairman of the Committee to him, of Feb¬ 
ruary 23, 1829, appears to have been in the Treasury, in funds placed 
in the Branch Bank of Washington for the payment of that amount 
of stocks on the 1st of July last. No information as to the two other 
particulars had been received at the writing of this report, but it is 
expected, as the Chief Clerk of the Navy Department, to whom the 
statement containing the object was shown by the Chairman of the 


260 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[20th Congress, 


Committee, promised to procure and furnish them. When these shall 
be received, the Committee will be able to ascertain the present state 
of the fund, and its fiscal progress for the last fifteen years; and it is 
believed the expected answer to the resolution of the 11th of Feb¬ 
ruary, 1829, will show the effect, in practice, of the pension act of 
1817, and any error which may have been committed in refusing, or 
granting, or renewing Navy pensions to widows and orphans. With¬ 
out such information, the Committee believe they ought not to 
recommend a renewal of the act of 1817. 

This brief history of the efforts made by the Committee to obtain 
the information necessary to enable them to act is stated to show the 
cause why they do not now report definitively on the subject. The 
delay has arisen, probably, from the sickness of the Secretary of the 
Navy. The note of their chairman of December 15, 1828, it is be¬ 
lieved, found him considerably indisposed. Hence, too, his reply 
was not received until the 27th of January. On the receipt of this 
followed the resolutions of January 30tli, February 3d and 11th, and 
the notes explanatory of the errors and defects in the answers, given 
almost as soon as they were received, the dates of some of which have 
not been given. It is understood that the Secretary of the Navy has, 
for several days, been extremely ill; and to that cause the Com¬ 
mittee attribute much of the delays in answering the calls. 

The Committee give no opinion on the subject of the construction 
given to the laws granting these pensions. They are of opinion that 
a well digested report on the whole subject of the finances of the fund, 
and of the laws affecting it by grant of pensions or other wise, and their 
operation, should be made by the Department. 

They therefore recommend the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the foregoing report, and the papers and documents 
accompanying the same, be referred to the Secretary of the Navy, to 
report thereon, at the next session of Congress. 


Navy Department, 

February, 1829. 

Sir, 

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 
11th February, 1829, the Secretary of the Navy has the honour to 
enclose three statements, marked 1, 2, 3, corresponding to the sec¬ 
tions of the resolution, and which are intended to convey all the 
information called for by the resolution, so far as it can be furnished 
from the files and records of the Commissioners of the Navy Pension 
Fund. It will be found defective in some of the points embraced 
within the resolution. This has arisen from the nature of the claims 
for pensions, and the situation of the applicants. They are often 
friendless, and almost always indigent and distressed; and cannot, 
therefore, be expected to afford the full and systematic evidence 
which would be required in other cases. The Commissioners have 
only demanded of them proof of such matters as are indispensable to 
establish their rights. 

Respectfully submitted, by order of the Secretary of the Navy, 

Charles Hay, Ch. Clk. 

To the Speaker of the House of Representatives. 


Statement of Pensions granted to the widows and children of officers, seamen, and marines, for death hy disease , casualties, or injuries, under other laics than 

that of 3d March, 1817. 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS 


261 


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262 


REPOBTS AND PBOCEEDINGS. 


[20th Congress, 


The case of Susannah Lippincott is added to this list because it was 
granted after the repeal of the law of 1817, and the cause of the death 
did not happen during the existence of that law: it is, therefore, 
doubtful whether the right was saved by the proviso in the law of 
1824. It is, perhaps, also doubtful whether the cases of Mrs. Madison, 
and one or two others, in the second statement, ought not to be added 
to this list: they appear on the corresponding list in the former 
report. 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


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263 




















































































































No. 3. 

List of Pensions granted to the widows and children of Officers, Seamen, and Marines, under the law of 3d March, 1817, and previously to its repeal 

by the act of 22 d January, 182A- 


264 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[20th Congrkss, 


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2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


265 


Rep. No. 103. 

ELLEN DIX, HARRIET J. KISSAM, GRATIA RAY, PENELOPE 
DENNY, ELIZABETH WHITEHEAD, ELEANOR WILLS, 
CHARLOTTE M. R. THORN, SUSANNA LIPPENCOT, AND 
LOUISIA BOOTH, WIDOWS, AND JOSEPH SILCOCK, 
GUARDIAN OF THE INFANT CHILDREN OF CALEB CREW, 
- CLAIMING TO BE PLACED ON THE ROLL OF NAVY PEN¬ 
SIONERS. 


March 2, 1829. 

Read, and laid upon the table. 

Mr. Hoffman, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which peti¬ 
tions from the above named widows, &c. had been referred, made the 
following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs respectfully report : 

That they have examined the cases referred to them, of widows 
claiming to be placed on the roll of Navy Pensioners. 

The Committee have made use of every reasonable exertion to 
ascertain the past progress of the Navy Pension Fund, and the practi¬ 
cal operation of the act of March 3d, 1817, which provided pensions in 
these several cases; but, principally from the illness of the Secretary 
of the Navy, and, in part, from the difficulty in making out the desired 
statements on the subject of the fund, and the pensions charged on it, 
that information is not yet obtained. But the Committee are enabled 
to make the following statements: 

The classes of cases referred to the Committee have been provided 
for by no law, save that of March 3, 1817, which granted a pension on 
the usual conditions, when the husband or father “died in conse¬ 
quence of disease contracted, or casualties or injuries received, while 
in the line of his duty, &c.” This act was repealed by the 2d section 
of the act of January 22, 1824, with a proviso. The practical effect 
of this repeal is thus stated by the Secretary of the Navy, in his report 
to the President of November 27, 1828: “Since the repeal, deaths, 
by disease, casualty, or injury, have not been considered causes for 
granting pensions to widows and children, except in cases where the 
death occurred during the last war. Applications, which have been 
numerous, have, therefore, been uniformly refused, except in the 
cases specified.” 

The Committee are unable to find any law, except the repealed act 
of 1817, which ever did grant a pension for such causes, whether the 
death happened during or since the war; and they believe there never 
has been any. If the term of any of the pensions granted by that act 
had, before "its repeal, (January 22, 1824,) expired, it was extended 
for an additional term of five years by the act of March 3d, 1819, if the 
husband or father “died in the Naval service during the last war.” 



266 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[20th Congress, 


Contrary, however, to the above rule of construction, as quoted 
from the report, the Committee find that six pensions, to the annual 
amount of $582, have, since the repeal, been granted, because the 
deaths had occurred before the repeal, and one where the death hap¬ 
pened after the repeal. At the drawing of this report, the Committee 
are not possessed of the facts which will enable them to state what 
rules have been adopted in granting and renewing these pensions. 

Although the information on this subject, obtained by the Commit¬ 
tee, is quite imperfect, they are satisfied that if any one of the cases 
referred to them, and all others resting on the same principles, were 
provided for at the present rates, the income of the fund would be 
wholly inadequate to pay the pensions charged upon it: its principal 
moneys would be rapidly destroyed. It is difficult, perhaps impossi¬ 
ble, to make a just distinction, in principle, between one of these cases 
and another. Each petitioner alleges, and, if required, can prove the 
most devoted services of the deceased, and very great suffering on 
the part of the widow and children. A provision for some, and the 
exclusion of others of equal merit, and supported by the same princi¬ 
ples, would be unjust and impolitic. 

Nothing but the fullest and most perfect information of the past 
annual income of the fund, and the pensions it has paid, its profits 
and losses, and correct information of the practical operation of the 
several acts granting these pensions, and especially of the act of 1817, 
could justify the recommendation of the re-enactment of that act. 
This information the Committee have not been able to obtain. 

They therefore ask to be discharged from the further consideration 
of these petitions. 


DOCUMENTS ACCOMPANYING THE REPORT ON NAVY 
HOSPITAL FUND, NO. 61, DATED JANUARY 31, 1829, AND 
RECORDED AT PAGE 302 OF THIS VOLUME. 


House of Representatives, 

Committee on Naval Affairs, 

December 18, 1828. 

Sir: The House have directed the Committee, by a resolution of the 
17th instant, to inquire into the expediency of making an appropria¬ 
tion to the Navy Hospital Fund of all money that may be due to the 
said fund from the Treasury of the United States. 

The Committee direct me to inquire of your Department what 
amount of moneys has, and which ought to have been carried to the 
said fund ? what amount of the said moneys has been received and 
expended by the Commissioners, and where expended? any balance 
of such moneys in the hands of the Commissioners; and especially 
what amount of moneys is now due to the said fund, from what source 
they have accrued, and for what cause withheld ? 

With esteem and respect, 

I am, Sir, your humble servant, 

Michael Hoffman. 

Hon. Samuel L. Southard, 

Secretary of the Navy. 




2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


267 


Navy Department, 

January 22, 1829. 

Sir: It is proper that I again remind you of the cause which 
furnishes an apology for the delay in answering your letter on tho 
subject of the Hospital fund. 

In reference to the whole subject, I beg leave to refer you to the 
report of the Commissioners of the fund to the House of Representa¬ 
tives, of the 15th of January, 1827. It is not supposed necessary to 
repeat the facts and views contained in that document. 

I understand you to inquire, 

1. What sums the Commissioners have received ? 

2. What they have expended, and where? 

3. What sums have accrued to the fund which ought to have been 
carried to it, and have not been, but have been otherwise expended ? 

1. The whole sum which has been credited to the fund, from its 
establishment in July, 1798, to 30th September, 1828, is $328,597.93. 
This sum embraces the special appropriation in May last, of $46,217.14, 
and the rent which has accrued from the hospital estate in Chelsea,. 
Mass. 


2. There had been expended prior to October, 1821. $10, 652.85 

Since that time, in purchasing lands, erecting buildings, &c. &c. at Phil¬ 
adelphia. 162,136.82 

Ditto at Norfolk. 121, 200.00 

Ditto at Brooklyn and Chelsea. 30,140. 23 

Contingencies incident to the management of the fund, and the repay¬ 
ments to deserters. 1,180. 49 


In all.. $325, 310. 43 

Leaving a balance in the hands of the Commissioners, on the 20th 
December, 1828, of. 3, 287. 54 


By these expenditures, lands enough have been procured for Hos¬ 
pital establishments at all the stations where they will be required,, 
except at Pensacola. At that place it may not be necessary to pur¬ 
chase any land; if it should become so, it can be procured for less 
than three thousand dollars. 

3. I consider due to the fund from the Government all such sums 
as have been regularly deducted from the pay of the officers, &c., 
under the law, but which, by not being carried to the fund, have been 
used by the Government for other objects. 

By the law of February, 1811, $50,000 was directed to be paid to the 
fund, out of the unexpended balance of the Marine Hospital fund; 
only $3,782.86 was paid; leaving due $46,217.14. This sum was, by 
this law, then declared to be due. If paid, it would have been ex¬ 
pended in buildings, or brought an interest. The Government did 
not pay it, but kept it from those whom they admitted were entitled 
to it. The interest, on every principle of justice, is therefore due to* 
the fund, and would now amount to $47,612.75. 

This law itself was an unjust exercise of power. It did not give 
all that was due. There was then much more than $50,000 owing to 
the fund: much more than that sum had been deducted from the pay 
of the officers, <&c. and they had derived no benefit from the Marine 
Hospital fund, in which it had been placed. It is not believed that 
one man had ever received advantage from that fund; and Congress 
ought to have given the whole that had been deducted from the pay 
of the officers, &c. of the Navy. What that precise sum was, cannot 










268 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[20th Congress, 


now be very accurately ascertained, because the muster rolls and 
papers which show the numbers in service, and of course the number 
from whose pay the deductions were made, between 1799 and 1811, 
were burned by the enemey in 1814. The estimates are our most 
certain guides; but they do not show the whole numbers; for in 
several of those years, additions were made to our force after the esti¬ 
mates of the year were prepared. Such was the case by the law of 
3d March, 1807, by which 500 seamen, &c. were added. But taking 
the estimates as the guide, between September, 1799, and Feb. 1811, 
it will be found, by adding them up, that there were, of officers, sea¬ 
men, and marines, in the service during that time, 44,887; the pro¬ 
ceeds from whose pay, in favor of the fund, would have been 
$107,762.80; which is $57,762.80, more than the $50,000 allowed by 
law. To this sum of $57,762.80, the fund was as much entitled as it 
was to the $50,000. But it was not only entitled to the principal 
sum, but to interest, for the money had been kept from the use of 
those whose property it was, and had been expended by the Govern¬ 
ment on other subjects. Allowing then a year to elapse on each sum 
deducted, you will find, by calculating it, that there was due of inter¬ 
est, at the time of passing the law, $27,572.76. 

I would state the claim of the fund against the Government to be 
equitably and justly as follows:. 

The sum of principal due when the law of 1811 passed beyond that al¬ 


lowed by law. $57, 762. 80 

Interest due at that day. 27, 572. 76 

Interest from 26th February, 1811, to 26th February, 1829, 18 years, on 

$57,762.80... 62,403.50 

Interest on $46,217.14, from 26th February, 1811, when it was admitted 
to be due, to May, 1828, when it was paid, 17 years 3 months. 47, 612. 75 


Amount. $195, 351. 81 


I make no hesitation in adding the interest, because, 

1. The Government kept and used the money, to which it had no 
possible right. It belonged to the officers, seamen, and marines, from 
whom it was taken by the power of the law, and who were deprived 
of its use. The Government surely does not need, nor can it wish to 
receive, a charitable donation of the use of money from a band of 
poor seamen and marines. It will pay them their due, to the utter¬ 
most farthing. 

2. This is a charitable or benevolent fund, which the Government 
has undertaken to create and to manage. It will not take advantage 
of its own, to lessen and destroy such a fund. 

In addition, I beg leave to add that the Government has never 
given a cent to create hospital establishments for the Navy. In 
no other country, and under no other civilized Government, is this 
the fact. The nation owes it to its own character and reputation to 
aid its fund by an appropriation from the Treasury—an appropriation 
which ought to be rendered liberal by the great and good object for 
which it is made. 

I have the honor to be, 

Very respectfully, Sir, 

Your obedient servant, 

Samuel L. Southard. 

Hon. M. Hoffman, 

Chairman Navy Committee, House of Representatives. 








2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


269 


House of Representatives, 
Committee on Naval Affairs, Jan. 26, 1829. 

Sir: The Committee on Naval Affairs directed me to inquire of 
you what sum of money will, in the opinion of your Department, be 
necessary to be expended in the construction of the Naval hospitals 
for the current year, and the share deemed proper to be expended at 
each station? what delay will be occasioned by relying entirely on the 
current income of the fund? and what will be the probable injuries 
from such delay ? The probable expense of completing these Hos¬ 
pitals may be convenient to satisfy inquiries. 

Soliciting an answer as soon as may consist with the convenience of 
your Department, 

I am, Sir, 

Your humble servant, 

Michael Hoffman. 

The Hon. Secretary of the Navy. 


Navy Department, 

27th January, 1829. 

Sir: I have the honor to receive your letter of the 26th instant. 
I have not, at this time, such estimates from the architects as will 
enable me to state what sum will be required for the hospitals during 
the present year. I presume there will be required at Norfolk about 
twenty-five thousand dollars, and at Philadelphia about thirty-five 
thousand, provided the portico and steps are not now finished; if 
they are, then fifty-seven thousand dollars will be necessary. To 
complete all the fences, walls, and out-buildings, planting trees, and 
regulating the grounds, there will be required for the asylum at Phila¬ 
delphia about seventy-five thousand dollars; and at Norfolk probably 
fifty thousand dollars will complete the building, and all the out¬ 
houses, grounds, &c. &c. 

The amount carried to the credit of the fund will hereafter be 
between fifteen and twenty thousand dollars per annum; and it will, 
of course, take several years before these buildings can be completed, 
if reliance be had on that source alone. 

I am, respectfully, &c. 

Samuel L. Southard. 


Hon. Michael Hoffman, 

Chairman Naval Committee Ho. of Reps. 



270 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[20th Congress, 


DOCUMENTS ACCOMPANYING THE REPORT ON THE PRI¬ 
VATEER PENSION FUND, NO. 85, MADE FEBRUARY 17, 
1829, AND RECORDED AT PAGE 309 OF THIS VOLUME. 


Letter from the Secretary of the Navy to the Chairman of the 
Committee on Naval Affairs in the House of Representatives. 

Navy Department, 

February 21, 1829. 

Sir: In reply to the inquiries contained in your letter of the 15th 
instant, in relation to “the expediency of continuing the act providing 
for the allowance of pensions from the privateer pension fund,” I 
have the honor to submit the following statement: 

1st. As regards “the state of the fund, and its probable productive¬ 
ness for some years to come.” 

The fund consists of six per cent, stock of the United States, to the 
amount of $70,698.24, yielding an annual interest of $4,241.89. A 
portion of this stock has been reimbursable since the 1st day of Jan¬ 
uary, 1827, and the residue since the first day of the present year; so 
that the whole is now subject to redemption at the pleasure of the 
United States. 

The stock belonging to this fund at one time amounted to $209,- 
580.65; but the interest proving insufficient to discharge the claims 
admitted under the several acts authorizing the issue of pensions, sales 
of portions of the stock, at various times, became inevitable, to enable 
the Department to pay the semiannual allowances granted to the 
pensioners- Stock to the amount of $138,882.41 has been sold, on 
which a premium of $7,408.69 has been realized; and further sales 
must take place semiannually, the interest being inadequate to pay 
the pensions chargeable to the fund. 

2d. As respects “the number and probable expense to the fund of 
the officers, seamen, and marines, whose pensions are charged upon it.” 

Provision was made for persons disabled in private armed vessels 
by the acts of Congress of the 13th of February and 2d of August, 1813; 
and under these acts, relief has been afforded to 107 persons, who are 
entitled to pensions, so long as their disability continues. Of this num¬ 
ber, some are known to have died; others, who have not claimed their 
pensions for several years, are also probably dead, though their death 
has not been reported to the Department; and new claimants occa¬ 
sionally yet present themselves, and succeed in establishing their right 
to a participation in the benefits of the fund. The expense occa¬ 
sioned to the fund by this description of pensioners may be estimated 
at about $5,000 per annum. 

3d. As respects “the number of widows yet unmarried, and children 
under the age of sixteen years, whose pensions are charged on the 
fund, and the probable future annual expense to the fund by reason 
of the continuance of the pensions of such widows and children.” 

Since the passage of the acts of Congress of the 9th of April and 
26th of May, 1824, authorizing a further renewal for the term of five 
years, the widows and orphans of 159 persons, slain or lost during the 
late war in private armed vessels, have been placed on the pension 
list, and paid, semiannually, a sum equal in amount to half the pay 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


271 


to which the deceased persons, whom they respectively represent, 
were entitled at the time of their death. Some or these have already 
received the fifteen years’ allowance authorized by law, and their 
pensions have of course been discontinued. The pensions of the 
others will expire at different periods between the present time and 
the year 1830, when all will have received an allowance for fifteen 
years, and the several pensions expire by the limitation of the term 
authorized by law, unless Congress shall make provision for a further 
renewal. 

Under the act of 4th of March, 1814. the widows and orphans of 203 
persons were placed on the pension list. Under the act of 16th of 
April, 1818, the widows and orphans of 186 persons had their pensions 
renewed and increased. Under the acts of 9th of April and 26th of 
May, 1824, as before observed, the widows and orphans of 159 per¬ 
sons have had their pensions further renewed. From a comparison 
of these numbers, the Committee will see what decrease has taken 
place, on account of intermarriages, deaths, children attaining the 
age of sixteen years, and of the failure of persons entitled to pensions 
to establish their claims. 

It being difficult to estimate, with accuracy, the annual expense 
chargeable to this fund for any future year, 1 subjoin a statement, 
showing the actual amount remitted from the Treasury to pay priva¬ 
teer pensioners, for each of the last ten years. 

The remittances were as follows 


In 1818. 

1819 

1820 
1821 
1822 

1823 

1824 

1825 

1826 
1827 


$17, 532. 00 
28, 759. 00 
35, 065. 33 
37, 010. 00 
25,032..20 

18, 042. 51 

19, 499. 00 
32, 066. 00 
20,112. 00 
17, 284. 00 


From the preceding views, it is evident, unless Congress shall make 
an appropriation to aid the fund, it will, in a few years, be exhausted, 
and the widows and orphans of those slain or lost, as well as the persons 
who were wounded and disabled, in the private armed vessels of the 
United States, be left without any pension or allowance, to contribute 
towards their support and maintenance. 

If more particular information respecting this fund be required, 
permit me to refer you to a detailed report, made by the Secretary of 
the Navy to the Speaker of the House of Representatives on the 27th 
of March, 1820, and to another report from the Dpeartment, made to 
the Honorable James Lloyd, Chairman of the Naval Committee of the 
Senate, on the 24th January, 1824, both of which were printed, and 
will be found among the documents. 

I am, very respectfully, &c. 

Saml. L. Southard. 

Hon. Michael Hoffman, 

Chairman Naval Committee, 

House of Representatives. 












272 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[20th Congress, 


Navy Department, 

February 11, 1829. 

Sir: I have had the honor to receive your letter, dated the 10th 
inst. making inquiries in relation to the Privateer Pension Fund. 

1st. As to the amount of its stock at the close of the year 1828. 

2d. The income of the stock during that year. 

3d. The amount of invalid pensions chargeable on the fund for that 
year. 

4th. The amount chargeable on account of pensions granted to 
widows and orphans. 

I enclose to you a statement from the Register of the Treasury, 
which contains solutions to the first two queries, and shows that 
the amount of stock belonging to the fund, at the close of 1828, was 
$63,272.50; and that the stock of the fund, during the year, yielded 
an income of $4,210.60. 

The amount of invalid pensions, chargeable to the fund during that 
year, was $6,220; and the amount, on account of pensions to widows 
and orphans, $10,830. 

All which is respectfully submitted. 

Saml. L. Southard. 

Hon. Michael Hoffman, 

Chairman Naval Committee, 

House of Representatives. 


Extract from an act regulating pensions to persons on board private 
armed ships. Approved, February 13, 1813. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Navy 
be authorized and required to place on the pension list, under the 
like regulations and restrictions as are used in relation to the Navy 
of the United States, any officer, seaman, or marine, who, on board 
of any private armed ship or vessel bearing a Commission of letter of 
marque, shall have been wounded, or otherwise disabled, in any 
engagement with the enemy; allowing to the captain a sum not 
exceeding twenty dollars per month; to lieutenants and sailing master 
a sum not exceeding twelve dollars, each, per month; to marine 
officer, boatswain, gunner, carpenter, master’s mate, and prize 
masters, a sum not exceeding ten dollars, each, per month; to all 
other officers a sum not exceeding eight dollars, each, per month; 
for the highest rate of disability, and so in proportion; and to a seaman, 
or acting as a marine, the sum of six dollars per month, for the highest 
rate of disability, and so in proportion: which several pensions shall be 
paid bv direction of the Secretary of the Navy, out of the fund above 
provided, and from no other. 


Extract from the letter of the Chairman of the Committee on 
Naval Affairs of December 15, 1828, to the Secretary of the Navy. 

“The Committee also direct me to ask of your Department infor¬ 
mation relative to the privateer pension fund, and the pensions of 
widows charged thereon. Has that fund been reduced by any loss * 
and if so, when, from what cause, how, and to what amount * Should 




2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


273 


no addition be made to the fund, would it, in the opinion of your 
Department, promote the interests of the Naval service to renew the 
expired pensions to widows charged on that fund * 

“The special inquiries stated in this note are not intended to limit 
the information sought in the more general statement of the subjects 
embraced in it.” 


Extract of a letter of the Secretary of the Navy to the Chairman of 
the Committee on Naval Affairs, dated January 26, 1829, in answer 
to the above. 

“I do not perceive that I can, without special inquiry from you, 
give any information respecting the privateer pension fund, which is 
not embraced in my report to the President. The fund has not been 
diminished by any losses. See my letter to you, 21st February 1828, 
documents H. R. No. 244. 

“If no addition is to be made to the fund, I think it would not 
promote the public interest to renew the pensions of widows. They 
have already enjoyed considerable benefit from the fund, and if the 
balance is to be expended either on them or on the seamen who have 
been actually wounded and still survive, the latter ought to have the 
benefits: between the two, they ought to be preferred.” 

39889—10-18 




TWENTY-FIRST CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. 


In the House of Representatives 

of the United States, 

December 10, 1829. 

A Committee on Naval Affairs was appointed, pursuant to the 
standing rules and orders of the House, consisting of 


Mr. Hoffman, Chairman. 
Mr. Crowninshield, 

Mr. Miller, 

Mr. Ripley, 

Mr. Carson, 

Mr. Dorsey, and 

Mr. White, of New York. 


Members. 


SAMUEL ANGUS. 


December 21, 1829. 

Read, and laid upon the table. 

Mr. Hoffman, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the 
following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the Memo¬ 
rial of Samuel Angus, late a Captain in the Naval service of the 
United States, respectfully report: 

That they have considered the same, and adopt as their report, the 
report made to the House by the Committee on Naval Affairs, Jan¬ 
uary 20, 1826, and the resolution then reported. 

Resolved, That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition. 

Note. —See page 196, for report referred to. 


275 






276 


REPOETS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[21st Congress, 


SUSAN SELLERS. 


December 21, 1829. 


Read, and laid on the table. 


Mr. Hoffman, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the 
following 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom the petition of Susan 
Sellers was referred, respectfully report: 

That the only facts alleged in her case, which the Committee deem 
material, are—that she is very old, poor, unable to maintain herself, 
and a widow; that her son, Hamilton Sellers, wounded in the service 
of the United States on board the Philadelphia, and was allowed a 
pension till his death in 1827. 

If these facts were proved, they would not, in the opinion of the 
Committee, furnish any ground for placing this excellent woman on 
the Navy pension roll, or granting her relief. They, therefore, 
recommend the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the petitioner have leave to withdraw her petition. 


Rep. No. 9. 
ELIZABETH MAYS. 


December 21, 1829. 

Mr. Hoffman, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was 
referred the case of Elizabeth Mays, made the following 

report : 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of Elizabeth Mays, report: 

21st cong., ist Sess. That, from the proofs in this case, it appears that 
the petitioner is old, poor, and unable to maintain 
herself; a widow, and the mother of Wilson Mays, deceased; that the 
said Wilson Mays enlisted in the Naval service of the United States, 
as an ordinary seaman, on the 16th July, 1812, was promoted to a 
carpenter’s mate, and held that station when he was killed, on the 
10th of September, 1813, on board the Lawrence, without leaving 
a widow or issue, and that his mother received half of his monthly 
pay by allotment, at the time of his death. 





1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


277 


The Committee are of opinion, that the facts in this case come 
strictly within the rules adopted by Congress, in granting a pension 
to Penelope Denny; and therefore report a bill, granting to Mrs. 
Mays a pension, equal to one half the pay of her son, to be paid out 
of the Navy Pension Fund half yearly, for five years, from September 
3, 1829, with the usual limitations. 


Rep. No. 61. 

ALEXANDER CLAXTON. 


January 7, 1830. 


Mr. Miller, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the 
following 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the Memo¬ 
rial of Alexander Claxton, a Master Commandant in the Navy of the 
United States, report: 

That they have had the same under consideration, and the proofs 
in the case. They beg leave to adopt, as their report, the report 
annexed, of the Committee to the House, of January 16, 1829; and 
they report a bill for his relief, to the extent recommended in that 
report. 

Note. —For report referred to, see page 297. 


THOMAS CHURCH. 


January 22, 1830. 


Read, and laid on the table. 


Mr. Hoffman, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the 
following 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of Thomas Church, respectfully report: 

That the petitioner states, that, while he was Lieutenant in the 
State Artillery of Connecticut, he, in July, 1814, with eight men under 
his command, rowed out in an open fishing Boat, and about 15 miles 





278 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[21st Congress, 


from Fort Fenwick, Saybrook, Connecticut, recaptured the schooner 
Lively, then manned and defended by three British subjects, being a 
midshipman and two seamen from the British frigate Maidstone, & 
within about seven miles of the British squadron; and that he has not 
been compensated for this capture by the United States. 

These facts are proved by his affidavit, and the certificate of L. 
Fosdick, as Deputy of Robert Fairchild, Marshal of the District of 
Connecticut. 

There is not furnished to the Committee any evidence of the value 
of the schooner, nor to whom she belonged, nor what disposition was 
made of her. The petitioner prays a compensation for this recapture. 

In the circumstances of this case, the Committee can discover not 
just ground for granting the relief sought; and therefore recommend 
the following resolution: 

Resolved , That the prayer of the petition ought not to be granted. 


Rep. No. 116. 
MICHAEL LEWIS. 


January 26, 1830. 


Mr. Miller, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of Michael Lewis, report: 

That a bill for the relief of the petitioner was presented by the 
Committee on the 6th of May, 1828, accompanied by a report; which 
they now adopt, and to which they refer for a statement of the facts 
in this case. They herewith report a bill granting the sum of three 
hundred and ninety dollars, as a compensation in full, for the services 
and detention of the petitioner. 

That the petitioner represents himself to be a pilot of the bay and 
river Delaware; that he left the port of Wilmington, in the State of 
North Carolina, on the 20th of December, 1813, in the United States’ 
schooner Vixen, then under the command of Captain Thomas Hall, 
bound to Philadelphia; that, while doing duty on board said vessel as 
a coasting pilot, on the 25th of the same month, he was severely 
wounded by a shot from the British frigate Belvidere, then in chase 
of the said schooner; that he was taken prisoner, and sent to the 
Hospital at Hamilton, in the Island of Bermuda, where he remained 
eighty-two days, when, his wounds being healed, he was transferred 
to Halifax, and thence to Salem, Massachusetts. The petition is 
accompanied by the deposition of the petitioner, and sundry other 
documents, by which it is proven, to the satisfaction of the Committee, 
that the petitioner was, at the time of his capture, in the regular 




1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


279 


discharge of his duty as a pilot, and that he has at no time received 
any compensation for his services or detention. It also satisfactorily 
appears that the wounds of which he complains were received at the 
time, and in the manner, by him stated. But, by the certificate of 
the Surgeon by whom he has been recently examined, it would appear 
that the disability thereby produced has not been such as to entitle 
him to be placed on the list of invalid pensioners. The Committee 
are, however, of opinion, that he is justly and fairly entitled to com¬ 
pensation for his services, and for the time he was detained as a 
prisoner—the severity of his wounds being such as, in all probability, 
would have prevented him from engaging in his regular pursuits, even 
if he had been released at an earlier date. The Committee propose 
to fix the compensation to be allowed him at two dollars per day, 
amounting to three hundred and ninety dollars; and therefore report 
a bill granting that sum for his relief. 


Rep. No. 175. 

PRIVATEER PENSION FUND. 


February 9, 1830. 

Mr. Dorsey, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the report 
of the Secretary of the Navy to the President of the United States, 
of Dec. 1829, report on so much thereof as relates to the Privateer 
Pension Fund: 

That, soon after the late declaration of war against Great Britain, 
the Congress of the United States authorized letters of Marque and 
reprisal to be granted, and by the act of June 26, 1812, provided for 
the creation of a Privateer Pension Fund, by setting apart two per 
centum of the nett amount of all prize money arising from captures 
and re-captures made by the private armed vessels of the United 
States, as a fund for the support and maintenance of the widows and 
orphans of such persons as may be slain, and of such persons as may be 
disabled and wounded on board of such vessels, in any engagement 
with the enemy, to be distributed in such manner as shall thereafter 
be provided by law. 

That, by the act of February 13, 1813, the pensions charged on this 
fund, in favor of those who shall have been wounded or otherwise 
disabled in any engagement with the enemy, were graduated. 

That, by the act of August 2, 1813, the benefit of this fund was 
extended to any officer, seaman, or marine, of any private armed 
ship, who shall have been wounded or otherwise disabled in the line 
of their duty. 

That the act of 14th March, 1814, extended the benefit of this fund 
to the widows and orphans of the officers, seamen, and marines, who 




280 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[21st Congress, 


shall have died by reason of wounds received, by enacting “that, if 
any officer, seaman, or marine, serving on board of any private 
armed ship or vessel, shall have died since the eighteenth day of June, 
1812, by reason of wounds received in the line of their duty, leaving 
a widow, and if no widow, a child or children under the age of sixteen 
years, such widow, and if no widow, such child or children, shall be 
placed on the privateer pension list, and shall be allowed half the 
monthly pension to which the rank of the deceased would have 
entitled him, for the highest rate of disability; which allowance shall 
continue for five years. But in case of the death or intermarriage of 
such widow, before the expiration of the term of five years, the half 
pay for the remainder of the term shall go to the child or children of 
the deceased; provided, that the half pay shall cease on the death of 
such child or children, and the several pensions, directed to be paid 
by the provisions of this act, shall be paid out of the privateer pension 
fund, and from no other.” 

That the act of April 16th, 1818, extended the benefit of this fund 
to the widows and orphans of officers, seamen, and marines, of those 
who shall have died in consequence of accident or casualty, by enact¬ 
ing “that, if any officer, seaman, or marine, shall have died since the 
18th day of June, 1812, in consequence of any accident or casualty, 
which occurred while in the line of his duty on board of a private 
armed vessel, leaving a widow, and if no widow, a child or children, 
the Secretary of the Navy is hereby authorized to place such widow, 
child, or children, on the pension list; and to allow such widow, child, 
or children, the same monthly pension as if the deceased had died by 
reason of wounds received in the line of his duty; provided, that all 
moneys paid by virtue of this act shall be paid out of the privateer 
pension fund, and from no other.” 

That the pensions granted to the widows and orphans under the 
preceeding acts of Congress, were extended for a further term of five 
years after the respective expirations of the same, by the acts of 
April 9th, 1824, and of 26th May, 1824. 

It appears from a statement furnished by the late Secretary of the Navy, 
on the 21st February, 1828, that this fund consisted of stocks amounting 


at one time to the sum of. $209, 580. 65 

That there had been expended thereof, before 1827, the sum of. 138, 882. 41 


Leaving a balance of this sum. $70, 698. 24 

Leaving the annual interest of. 4, 241. 89 

A letter from the Secretary of the Navy, of the 11th February, 1829, states 

this sum had been further reduced to the sum of... $63, 272. 50 

Yielding an annual interest of. 4, 210. 60 


The present Secretary of the Navy, in his official communication 
of the 7th January, 1830, states that there had been a further reduc¬ 
tion of the principal, and that it amounts now only to the sum of 
$53,115; that this sum is unproductive, as the stock in which it was 
invested has been redeemed. 

By the estimate, furnished the Committee from the Department, 
it will require $6,054, annually, to satisfy the invalid pensions charged 
on this fund. And if Congress shall deem it expedient to revive the 
pensions to the widows, which have expired, that then the sum of 
$10,495, will be required to pay the invalid and widows’ pensions. 

From this view of the present condition of the fund, it appears that 
the annual interest on the balance of the fund, if reinvested, will not 
be sufficient to satisfy the invalid pensions charged thereon. 









1st Session.] REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 281 

The Secretary states, that almost all of the pensions granted here¬ 
tofore to the widows have expired. 

It is submitted, therefore, to the consideration of Congress, whether 
the pensions to the widows shall be extended for a further period of 
five years, and if a provision shall be made in aid of the remaining 
balance, sufficient to pay pensions granted to the invalid and the 
widow. 

If the Committee were disposed to concede, that the abandonment, 
by the universal compact of the civilized world, of the right of war 
on private property on the ocean, would conduce to the moral 
improvement of mankind, yet they cannot but believe, that, so long 
as other nations practise it, so long ought it to be the policy of this 
Government to encourage its citizens to embark a portion of their 
capital, in fitting out private ships of war, to cruise against and 
destroy the commerce and resources of the enemy. 

The genius of our Government, and the jealousies of our people, 
are averse to the building of an expensive Navy. Private armed ships 
supply the absence of a national marine, so far as the war shall be 
directed against the commerce of the enemy, and leave our national 
ships at liberty to convoy our merchant vessels, and defend our 
sea board. 

The experience of two wars has proved, beyond all controversy, 
that the distresses inflicted on the commerce of the enemy, by the 
spirited operations of our private armed ships, contributed much, 
very much, to render the war against us unpopular with the people 
of Great Britain, and to cause them to press their Ministers to seek a 
peace. 

This Government was essentially sustained, at a period of great 
pecuniary embarrassments, by the duties paid into the Treasury, 
arising from the very valuable prizes captured and bro’t into port 
by our privateers. 

The Committee have sought information from the Treasury 
Department, as to the amount of the benefit received by the Gov¬ 
ernment, from these captures. They submit, herewith, the state¬ 
ment procured, and regret that it is not more specific as to the 
amount. The public journals of the day give us the prize list, 
showing that 1408 vessels were captured and destroyed. 

The letter from the Secretary of State, accompanying this report, 
verifies the interesting fact, that our private armed ships captured 
more British seamen, during the last war, than the whole of our 
gallant Navy. 

Humanity forbids us to withhold, from the widows of those gallant 
citizens, whose exertions thus contributed so effectually to the 
general defence, and whose lives were sacrificed, while thus toiling 
to enrich the nation, and to distress the enemy, in their old age, that 
pittance which the providence of the Government provided for them 
in their youthful days. 

The Committee, therefore, unite in opinion with the Secretary of 
the Navy, that policy, justice, and humanity, require, that the 
pensions to the widows should be renewed, and that provision should 
be made for this purpose, from the public Treasury, in aid of the bal¬ 
ance of the privateer pension fund, and thus prevent its entire 
absorption; and for these objects they beg leave to report a bill. 

Note. —For documents see the printed report No. 175. 


282 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[21st Congress, 


Rep. No. 190. 
LOOMIS AND BASSETT. 


February 12, 1830. 

Mr. C. P. White, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which 
was referred the case of Loomis & Bassett, made the following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the memo¬ 
rial of Jairus Loomis, Sailingmaster, commanding the United States’ 
Gun vessel No. 149, and James Bassett, Sailingmaster of gun 
vessel No. 154, on behalf of themselves and their respective crews, 
respectfully report: 

That they have considered the same, and the documents therein 
referred to, and adopt, as their report, the report made to the House 
by the Committee on Naval Affairs, on the 24th March, 1818, to which 
the Committee ask leave to refer, and make it a part of this report. 
And, the Committee having estimated the value of the property 
thus captured, and deposited in the Navy Yard at New Orleans, 
and having found it to amount to ten thousand nine hundred and 
thirty dollars, accordingly report a bill for one half of said sum. 

Note.— For report referred to, see page 36 of this volume. 


Rep. No. 305. 

LIEUTENANT CHARLES WILKES, Jr. 


March 17, 1830. 

Mr. White, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was 
referred the case of Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, Jr. made the follow^ 
ing 

REPORTI 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, Jr. of the United States’ Navy, beg 
leave respectfully to report: 

That it appears from the proceedings of this House, that a resolution 
was adopted on the 21st of May, 1828, authorizing the President of 
the United States to send one of the small public ships into the 
Pacific Ocean and South sea, to examine the coasts, islands, harbors, 
shoals, and reefs, in those seas, provided it could be effected without 





1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


283 


prejudice to the general interest of the naval service; and, provided, 
it could be done without further appropriations during that year. 

And your Committee find, from a report made by the Secretary of 
the Navy on the 27th of November, 1828, to the President, that the 
sloop of war Peacock was selected for this service, and placed under 
the command of Master Commandant Thomas Ap Catesby Jones; 
and Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, Jr. was selected as Astronomer to 
the expedition. 

Lieutenant Wilkes was instructed, in order to carry into effect the 
contemplated object, to purchase a number of astronomical and 
mathematical instruments; a list of which, with the letter of the 
Secretary of the Navy, is hereunto annexed. 

Your Committee have annexed a statement of the articles paid for 
by the Navy Department, and also those paid for by the Navy Agent 
at New York. The sum of about $3,300 remains unpaid, to sundry 
individuals, for instruments purchased by the said Lieutenant Charles 
Wilkes, Jr, as will appear from the statement annexed. 

As this officer acted in good faith, under the orders of the Navy 
Department, your Committee are of opinion that relief should be 
afforded to him for the liability he has incurred; and, therefore, 
report a bill authorizing the proper accounting officer to adjust the 
accounts of the parties interested. 

Note. —For documents see printed report No. 305. 



TWENTY-FIRST CONGRESS, SECOND 
SESSION. 


In the House of Representatives 

of the United States, 

December 9, 1830. 

A Committee on Naval Affairs was appointed, pursuant to the 
standing rules and orders of the House, consisting of 


Mr. Hoffman, Chairman. 
Mr. Crowninshield, 

Mr. Miller, 

Mr. Carson, 

Mr. Dorsey, 

Mr. White, of N. Y. and 
Mr. Anderson. 


Members. 


Rep. No. 41. 
HENRY ECKFORD. 


January 20, 1831. 

^IMr. White, of N. Y. from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which 
had been referred the case of Henry Eckford, made the following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to wdiich was referred the petition 
of Henry Eckford, respectfully report: 

That they have had the same, and the papers relative to his claim, 
under consideration, and find that on the 17th day of February, 1829, 
the Committee reported to the House thereon, that— 

[See Report referred to, recorded in this volume, at pages 306, 307, & 308.] 

In relation to Navy Point and Hospital Ground, the Committee 
see no reason to change the opinion expressed in the above report 
adopted by them. The interest on the money has since accrued, and 
should be added to the amount then reported, and the account will 
then stand thus: 


The consideration money for Navy Point and Hospital Ground.$3,193. 75 

The interest thereon from Jan. 1, 1823, at 7 per cent., the legal rate of 
interest of the State where the estate is situate, to May 1, 1829, six years 

and four months. 1,415. 83 

Interest thereon for 2 years, ending May 1, 1831. 447.13 

Making together in full for that property.$5, 056. 71 


285 












286 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[21st Congress, 


And for this amount they have provided in the bill now reported 
by them. 

In the papers now submitted to the Committee, Mr. Eckford 
claims, as equitable against the Government of the United States, 
for the 


Cost of building dock at Sackett’s Harbor, as per Estimate. $4, 050. 00 

Interest thereon from January, 1815, to January 1, 1830, fifteen years, at 6 
per cent, per annum. 3, 645. 00 


Making together. $7, 695. 00 


If the value of the works for which this claim is asserted was proved 
to the satisfaction of the Committee, the main difficulty to its allowance 
would still remain. It is known to the Committee 
21 st Cong, 2 d sess. that Mr. Eckford was extensively employed in ship¬ 
building for the United States at Sackett’s Harbor, during the late 
war. The dock in question appears to have been erected in the exe¬ 
cution of his contracts with the Government. The Committee have 
not been furnished with these contracts, but suppose the construc¬ 
tion of this dock came within the intention of them, as a means 
necessary to enable him to build and launch the public vessels. 
The Committee are satisfactorily informed that, at the close of the 
war, some of these building contracts were in execution, and the 
ship-building arrested by order of the Department. Mr. Eckford 
alleged that he should be able to complete the ships in about 
thirty or forty days, and claimed the same compensation as he 
would have been entitled to if he had completed the work; and on a 
reference of the whole matter to arbitration, his claim was awarded 
to him, and he paid accordingly. Without going into the particulars 
of the matters submitted, the award and payments, the Committee 
regard the transaction as a settlement of Mr. Eckford’s claim for all 
work done at Sackett’s Harbor in his ship-building operations for the 
United States, and, on the information they now possess, see no 
reason for the allowance of this part of the present claim. 

What is stated above in relation to the property at Storr’s harbor, is still 
true in the main. It appears now by Mr. Eckford’s affidavit, that that 

property cost him. $3, 935. 33 

And he charges interest on it from January 1, 1815, to January 1, 1830, 
fifteen years, at 6 per cent., or. 3, 541. 80 

$7, 477.13 


But the Committee find no proof that even as much as one acre of 
that wood-lot was in the actual occupation of the United States; and 
it is quite certain that the ship there, and the yard necessary for 
building, could cover only a few acres. The reasonable rent for this 
ground should be small, and proportioned to the actual value of the 
ground actually occupied by the United States. 

To settle this dispute in an equitable manner, and enable the Navy 
Department to purchase so much of the land, not exceeding ten acres, 
as may be necessary for naval purposes, the Committee have reported 
a section in the bill for Mr. Eckford’s relief, appropriating $2,500 for 
these purposes. 













2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


287 


GAETANO CARUSI. 


February 4, 1831. 


Read, and laid on the table. 


Mr. Miller, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Gaetano Carusi, report : 

That the petitioner represents that, in the year 1805, during the 
Tripolitan War, he was employed on board the United States’ Ship 
President, with his three sons, as instructers of a Band of Music, and 
for the purpose of continuing in the service of the United States so 
long as their services were required in the line of their profession. 

He further represents that it was stipulated by the agreement made 
in behalf of the United States with him, that he was to receive, for 
himself and sons, a monthly allowance of thirty three dollars during 
the period of three years, besides the ordinary rations, and at the 
expiration of the term of the contract, he should be paid a sufficient 
sum to carry himself and family back to Italy, where the agreement 
was made. 

That, instead of being employed and paid for the term of three 
years, he was dismissed before the expiration of two years, and 
embarked, by order of the then Secretary of the Navy, on board the 
Frigate Chesapeake, bound for the Mediterranean, in 1807, with his 
whole family, and that the unfortunate rencontre with the British 
Frigate Leopard, compelled them to reland in this country, where 
they have ever since remained without being able to get home. 

The petitioner prays that a bill may be passed for his relief, appro¬ 
priating a reasonable sum of money to enable him to proceed with 
his aged wife and three sons to Italy, which sum he estimates at one 
thousand dollars, which, he asserts, is exactly in the same proportion 
to allowances heretofore made by Congress, under similar contracts 
and circumstances, to other persons, &c. 

Accompanying the petition are several papers; among them copies 
of two letters from Capt. Hull to Lieut. Colonel Wharton, stating the 
fact of their engagement for the period of three years by him, under 
the orders of Commodore Barron, &c. A letter from the Navy 
Department, dated May 15, 1806, to Col. Wharton, declaring the 
practice of engaging bands of Music on board our vessels of War, as 
irregular and unauthorized, and not to be permitted; also an order 
from the same Department, dated 26th February, 1807, addressed to 
Com r . Barron, directing him to give a passage to the petitioner, on 
board of the Chesapeake, to the Mediterranean. It is also stated, in 
a letter from Col. Henderson to the present Secretary of the Navy, 
dated 21st January, 1831, that a passage was provided for the peti¬ 
tioner and his family, in the Washington line of battle ship in 1816, 
and that he declined going out in her. 



288 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[21st Congress, 


From all which your Committee are led to believe, that every 
engagement made with the petitioner has been fulfilled on the part 
of the Government, except retaining him and his sons in the service 
as part of a Band of Music for the period of three years, which could 
not be done under the authority of law. The unfortunate result of 
the attack upon the Chesapeake Frigate, on board of which the peti¬ 
tioner and his family had embarked, compelled them to return to this 
Country; but it appears that, at a subsequent period, viz: in 1816, a 
passage to the Mediterranean was tendered to them on board the 
United States’ Ship Washington, but, for some reason unknown to 
the Committee, by them declined. 

The Committee feel satisfied that a disposition has at all times, been 
manifested by the Navy Department to give to the petitioner and his 
family a passage home, on board some one of the public ships of the 
United States bound to the Mediterranean; and, they trust, that 
disposition still continues. As to the sum of one thousand dollars 
demanded by the petitioner, in lieu thereof, the Committee are of 
opinion that he has no claim thereto whatever. They therefore 
recommend that the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition. 


Rep. No. 73. 
JOSEPH S. CANNON. 


February 8, 1831. 

Read, and, with the bill, committed to a Committee of the Whole 
House to-morrow. 

Mr. Dorsey, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which had 
been referred the bill from the Senate for the relief of Joseph S. 
Cannon, reported the same with the following 

report and amendment: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the bill 
from the Senate, entitled “An act for the relief of Joseph S. Cannon,” 
beg leave to report: 

That it appears that the petitioner entered into the United States 
Naval Service as a Midshipman on the 26th February, 1814, that he 
immediately joined the Naval squadron on Lake Champlain, and 
participated in the battle thereon on the 11th of September, 1814, 
and was one of those gallant officers to whom Congress, on the fol¬ 
lowing October, voted a sword, “as an honorable testimony of his 
Country’s approbation.” 

That he was detailed in 1817 to the United States schooner Asp, 
and proceeded in her to assist in making a survey of the southern 
coast. That the duty was attended with great exposure, and with 



2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


289 


the loss of many lives. That, while engaged in it, the health of the 
petitioner became impaired, and that he received an injury which 
prevents him from any active pursuit. That, in consequence of the 
disability under which he labors, the Secretary of the Navy dismissed 
him from service as a midshipman in December 1828, and appointed 
him as sailingmaster’s mate, from which he has recently been dis¬ 
charged. That he has applied to be placed on the Navy Pension 
list, but, in consequence of his inability to procure the direct testi- 
mony required by law, inasmuch as those who were with him when 
the injury was received are all dead except one. The Committee are 
of opinion that his name ought to be placed on the Navy Pension list, 
and report an amendment to the Senate bill, directing that he should 
be placed thereon. All of which is most respectfully submitted. 

Amendment proposed to the Senate bill entitled “An act to provide 
for the relief of Joseph S. Cannon.’’ 

Strike out all after the enacting clause, and insert, “That the Secre¬ 
tary of the Navy be, and he is hereby, authorized and required to place 
the name of Joseph S. Cannon on the Navy Pension list, at the rate 
of ten dollars per month, payable from the first day of January, 1829. 


Rep. No. 85. 

PAY—CAPTAINS, &c. NAVY UNITED STATES. 


February 16, 1831. 


Mr. Dorsey, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred so much 
of the Presidents Message as relates to the Navy, beg leave to report 
(on so much thereof as recommends an increase of the Navy pay:) 

That, in the infancy of the Government, when the National treasury 
was oppressed with a heavy debt, and the resources of our Country 
for the purposes of National revenue had not been fully developed, 
statesmen of unquestionable patriotism and eminent political sagacity 
resisted the policy of creating a permanent National Navy, under a 
belief that the expenses thereof would be too oppressive on the people, 
and who also feared that our vessels of War could not contend, with 
any expectation of conquest, with the old navies of Europe, and 
predicted, that, whenever they should put to sea in time of war, 
they were destined to flatter the pride, and to increase the fleets our 
enemies. 

The depredations committed on our commerce, and the wrongs 
inflicted on our seamen, by the Corsairs of Algiers, at length induced 
Congress, in 1794, to provide for the building of a few vessels of war. 

To raise the funds necessary for this purpose, an additional duty 
was laid on the importation of certain enumerated articles, and a loan 
was authorized, reimbursable from the proceeds of these duties. In 
39889—10-19 




290 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[21st Congress, 


1797 and 1798, the cruisers of France entered within our jurisdictional 
limits, captured the vessels of her enemy, and committed spoliations 
on our commerce. 

To repress these lawless acts of aggression, Congress provided for a 
further increase of our Navy. The pressure on the National revenue 
had not then been lessened, neither had those doubts and fears as to 
the policy of creating a permanent Navy subsided. These acts did 
not look to such an establishment. They owed their origin to the 
immediate necessities of the Nation for maritime defence, and were 
to be inoperative if peace should be restored. 

This indisposition towards a permanent Navy, the temporary 
character of the service, and the necessity for the immediate addition 
to the public burthens which this increase of our naval armament 
imposed, must have induced Congress to have graduated the Navy 
pay as low as practicable, consistently with the public service. No 
certain and regular addition has since been made to it. The brilliant 
achievements of the Navy during the late War produced a revolution 
in the public opinion in its favor. The nation became convinced of 
the expediency of fostering its growth, and that the pay of its gallant 
officers was too small; and Congress, by the act of 1815, vested in the 
President a discretionary power of enlarging it twenty-five per cent., 
whenever the nature of the service in which the Navy should be 
employed should in his judgment require it. 

At the close of the late war, the public debt had been much in¬ 
creased. An anxiety for its prompt reduction pervaded the com¬ 
munity. 

A system of general retrenchment was adopted by Congress, and 
the discretionary power vested in the President by the act of 1815 
was withdrawn by the act of February, 1817. 

The Committee submit herewith a tabular statement, showing the 
Navy Pay from 1794 until the present time. 

Congress, after many appeals to its munificence and justice, 
expressed its conviction that the pay of lieutenants and surgeons in 
the Navy was inadequate, and, by the acts of 18— and 18—, increased 
theirs. 

The Committee have presented this historical account of the rise, 
progress, and present state of the Navy pay, to aid Congress in its 
deliberations on the question now presented—do justice and sound 
policy require an increase of the pay of Captains and Masters Com¬ 
mandant ? 

The late and present chief magistrate (notwithstanding his solici¬ 
tude to prevent any diversion of the revenue from the early extin¬ 
guishment of the National debt) have, in their annual communica¬ 
tions, earnestly recommended to Congress to increase the Navy Pay. 

The Committee mean not to advocate the degrading doctrine that 
the recommendations of the chief magistrate ought, without inquiry, 
to be adopted; but it must be conceded that his opinion, com¬ 
municated to Congress on his high responsibility, as to the expediency 
of measures within his own immediate and personal knowledge and 
observation, is entitled to very high consideration. 

His military life eminently qualifies him to judge as to the expenses 
necessarily incurred by officers in either branch of the public defence. 

Distributive justice requires that the pay and emoluments of officers 
of equal grade, rendering like services, discharging like duties, and 


,2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


291 


exposed to like dangers, should approximate. A legislation which 
neglects this great fundamental principle of national justice, engenders 
repinings, dissatisfaction, and jealousies. It cannot but be regretted 
that the laws of Congress furnish, in relation to the army and Navy, 
most glaring departures from this harmonizing principle. The 
relative rank of the officers of the Army and Navy is graduated thus: 

A Captain under 5 years, whose pay is $1,930, ranks with a lieu¬ 
tenant Colonel, who receives $2,372.32. 

A Captain over 5 years and under 10, ranks with a Colonel, who 
receives $2,941.32. 

A Captain over 10 years and under 15, ranks with a Brigadier 
General, who receives $4,422.49. 

A Captain over 15 years ranks with a Major General, who receives 
$6,512.64. 

A Master Commandant, whose pay is $1,176, ranks with a Major, 
who receives $2,106.32. 

The land officer is selected in his youth, placed under the control 
of Professors eminent for their moral worth and scientific attainments, 
and paid by the Government. After remaining four years in this 
state of pupilage and probation, he is called into the army, and in a 
very short time appointed to services, carrying with them pay and 
emoluments greater than those of a sea officer who may have spent 
tw v enty years in the service. 

No system of instruction at the public expense has been adopted 
for the Navy service. 

The Midshipman may devote any portion of his time, which can be 
spared from his naval duties, to obtain instruction in the line of his 
profession, and at his own expense. 

This is not the only inequality. The various grades of rank in the 
army give room for promotion. It is not so with the Naval service. 
The Captain of to-day, notwithstanding he may remain in the public 
service during a long life, must die a Captain, as Congress has not yet 
deemed it expedient to establish a higher rank in the naval service. 

But the inequality does not stop here; the army officer is rewarded 
for ten years of meritorious service with a brevet rank, conferring 
honor, and bringing with it an increase of pay. 

The officer of the Navy receives from his country no such flattering 
mark of distinction, although he may have, from the vigor of youth 
to the decrepitude of old age, spent his life without intermission in 
the exercise of his profession, with honor to himself and with profit 
and glory to his country, as there is no brevet rank established for 
the Navy. 

The Committee have deemed it proper to collect information from 
official sources, as to the relative number of promotions which have 
taken place in the Army and N<avy since 1816, and, also, the number 
of brevet rank which has been granted from that period. 

While Congress has thus made such honorable and provident pro¬ 
vision for the gallant officers of the Army, those of the Navy (who 
have, with consummate valor, admirable skill, and noble daring, sus¬ 
tained the honor of our infant flag against foe, and who, at the 
proudest period of the Naval glory of England, dispelled by successive 
victories that confidence in her naval invincibility, which a series of 
brilliant and exterminating triumphs over the combined navies of 
Europe had produced) have experienced from Congress a mortifying 


292 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[21st Congress, 


indifference to every appeal and recommendation, made to it, to 
approximate their pay to that of the Army. 

Is there any thing in the character of the two services which 
vindicates this disparity in emoluments and honors, and this in¬ 
difference to the claims of the Navy officers? 

Does the Army service require a higher order of intellect, or 
greater professional attainments ? Is it more exposed to danger, or 
attended with greater deprivations ? 

Does it impose higher responsibilities ? or have the present army 
incumbents a greater claim on the justice, gratitude, and munificence 
of their country, than those of the Navy. 

The Committee have deemed it expedient to procure a list of deaths 
in the Navy since 1816. It presents a picture of mortality at which 
(when contrasted with the number of those employed) the naval 
officer looks with the most fearful and agonizing forebodings, when¬ 
ever he is ordered to cruise under a tropical sun, more fraught with 
danger to human life than even the carnage of battle—a risk from 
which the Army officer is exempted, as he is most generally employed 
at salubrious stations. Great as the disparity between these two 
branches of our national defence is thus demonstrated to be, that 
between the civil list and Navy is still more glaring. 

The Committee exhibit herewith a statement of the progressive and 
present pay of the Civil list, from which it appears that the clerk who 
transcribes the Executive orders to the Naval officer, and who gives 
not to his official duties more than six hours in the day, enjoying all the 
comforts of domestic life, receives from his Government a higher pay 
than the naval officer, who, leaving his home, and while guarding with 
parental solicitude the lives of his crew, exposes his own in every 
climate, protecting our commerce, vindicating our honor, regulating, 
upon a high and fearful responsibility, our intercourse with foreign 
nations, and exposing himself in battle whenever his country calls. 

This inequality in our legislation does not stop even here. 

The present Navy pay was graduated in 1799. The pay of all the 
officers of the Government on the civil list established before them, 
has been increased. 

Either the enhanced price of the necessaries of life, the changed 
condition of society, or the increased resources of the Government, 
giving rise to more liberal notions as to the value of official services, 
must have conduced to this increase of compensation. 

The Navy Officers have a right to expect, upon every principle of 
justice, that the same causes should be productive of the like result 
in relation to them. 

The original sphere of action of no branch of the public service has 
been so enlarged as that of the Navy. The pay was fixed at a period 
when the operations of the Navy were limited, principally, to the duty 
of convoy. Its most enthusiastic friends, then, never anticipated 
that our Naval flag would visit every part of the habitable globe, 
waving over ships of war which would attract attention, excite 
admiration, and be adopted as models for imitation by the principal 
maritime power of Europe. 

This event, so flattering to our national pride, has been realized. 
This attractive condition of our Navy, and its expanded intercourse, 
impose upon its officers the most distressing pecuniary expenditures. 

Our national character, and the obligations of society, constrain 
them to reciprocate the courtesies which are extended to them, and 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


2d Session.] 


293 


which they could not decline without incurring the imputations of 
mercenary motives. 

The naval officer, when afloat, requires two separate establish¬ 
ments. His family must be housed, clothed, and fed, and his children 
educated. His own table must be supplied from foreign markets, and 
at the most exorbitant prices. The efficiency and harmony of the 
service require that he should extend to the officers of the ship, and 
of the Squadron, the hospitality of his table. It appears to the 
Committee that every observer of domestic expenditure, of the present 
state of society, and of our naval character and operations, must be 
convinced that the Navy pay is not sufficient for these double estab¬ 
lishments. So oppressive have they been, that, in the general, there 
has been no saving of money among our naval officers. 

There are very few of them who are not constrained, when they 
go to sea, to leave with their families allotment tickets of their 
monthly pay. Naval officers of admitted prudence and economy 
have returned from a long cruise without saving a dollar of their pay. 
While the simplicity of our republican institutions requires that there 
shall be no prodigal expenditure of public money to gratify the vanity 
of official station, a just and provident policy requires that those who 
devote themselves to the public service, and their lives to danger, for 
the public good, should receive from the public treasury the means 
of supporting their families, and those expenses which the stations to 
which they are called imperiously impose, and from which they can¬ 
not shrink without degradation of national and individual character. 

The Committee have procured a statement of the Navy pay of some 
of the European nations, and it is submitted, so that Congress may 
contrast theirs with ours. 

Immediately after the late European w~ar, in a time of profound 
peace, and when their national debt was the most oppressive, the 
people of England loudly murmured against the disparity of pay 
between their land and Navy forces, and remonstrated against the 
lowness of the Navy pay. These murmurings and remonstrances 
were not disregarded. An order of Council, in 1817, passed, approxi¬ 
mating the Navy pay to that of the Army, and was received with 
general satisfaction. 

The Committee verily believe that a similar approximation of pay 
would be received by the American people, in this moment of national 
wealth, with high approbation. A high minded and magnanimous 
people are always pleased at seeing the vindicators of their rights 
receiving from their Government adequate remuneration. 

Great Britain graduates her pay according to the ratings of her 
ships. 

This is in consonance with the frame of her Government, which 
recognises the necessity of sustaining the Executive department by 
an increase of its patronage. Such a scale of graduation ought not, 
therefore, to be incorporated into the Naval Code of this Country, 
because of that very tendency to enlarge the sphere of Executive 
patronage. 

The experience of the last war has produced an universal opinion, 
that, in all future wars with European Powers, our national honor is 
to be sustained, that our rights are to be vindicated, and our homes 
are to be protected, by a Navy. Under this conviction, millions of 
the public money have' been expended in providing for the permanent 
increase of the Navy. 


294 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[21st Congress, 


At the present time, when Europe is convulsed by revolution, 
portending an appeal to arms, and which may, eventually, drive us 
from our pacific relations, it is all important that a fair compensation 
should tranquilize the mind of the Navy Officer, reconcile him to the 
service, and render it desirable to others. 

Under the influence of the preceding considerations, the Com¬ 
mittee are of opinion that a just and enlightened policy requires that 
the pay of the Captains and Masters Commandant should be increased. 

The Committee have forborne to interfere with that of lieutenants 
and surgeons, inasmuch as they have no reason to believe that any 
recent circumstances require any legislation in relation to their pay. 

The Committee find, that, from the first organization of the Navy, 
a practice has prevailed in the Navy Department of allowing to the 
Navy Officers emoluments, contingent on services performed by them, 
supposed to be not strictly within the range of their naval duties. 

From the nature of the service, it was impracticable to foresee and 
to provide by legislation for all the duties which the officer might be 
called on to perform. 

Much, therefore, was left for Executive discretion. 

These contingent emoluments have been productive of much 
embarrassment in their adjustment to the head of the Department, 
and of much jealousy and discontent among the officers; and, as 
experience has now pointed out the general character of these duties, 
the spirit of the Government requires that official discretion should be 
circumscribed by legislative provision. 

The Government has quarters for the Commandant at all of our 
Navy Stations, except Baltimore. The Committee have, therefore, 
made provision for one at that place. The Cabin furniture, except 
fixtures, for our ships of war, has heretofore been furnished by the 
Commander, and an allowance has been made to him, graduated 
according to the class of the ship. The Committee think it advisable 
to let the Government exclusively furnish the Cabin. 

The Committee have, in accordance with these views, reported a 
bill providing for the increase of the pay of Captains and Masters 
Commandant, graduating the same upon the principle of assimilated 
rank, as recommended by the Secretary of the Navy. 


A Statement of assimilated rank in the present state of the 

Navy. 

There are in the Navy 37 Captains. 

17 of whom have been in commissiop above fifteen years, and rank 
with a Major General. 

3 have been in commission over ten and under fifteen years, and 
rank with a Brigadier General. 

8 have been in commission under ten and over five years, and rank 

with a Colonel. 

9 have been in Commission under five years, and rank with a 

Lieutenant Colonel. 


37 

There are in the Navy 33 Masters Commandant, who rank with a 
Major. 



2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


295 


Adjutant General’s Office, 

Washington, 27th January, 1831. 

Statement showing the number of promotions in the Army , in each grade respectively, 

since 1816: 


A. D. 

No. of 
Colonels 
promoted 
to Brigadier 
or Major 
Generals. 

No. of 
Lieutenant 
Colonels 
promoted 
to Colonels. 

No. of 
Majors pro¬ 
moted to 
Lieutenant 
Colonels. 

No. of 
Captains 
promoted 
to Majors. 

No. of 

1st Lieu¬ 
tenants pro¬ 
moted to 
Captains. 

No. of 

2d Lieu¬ 
tenants pro¬ 
moted to 
1st Lieu¬ 
tenants. 

No. of 

3d Lieu¬ 
tenants pro¬ 
moted to 
2d Lieu¬ 
tenants. 

Total. 

1816.... 




1 

g 


19 

KO 

1817.... 


i 

3 

3 

30 

54 

21 

Oo 

112 

1818.... 


3 

5 

6 

23 

90 

12 

139 

1819.... 


1 

4 

5 

29 

65 

5 

109 

1820.... 

1 

2 

1 

2 

12 

34 

1 

53 

1821.... 


1 

1 


1 



g 

1822.... 


1 

1 

2 

11 

21 



1823.... 





g 

26 


34 

1824.... 




1 

14 

15 


30 

1825.... 


1 

1 

3 

13 

21 


39 

1826.... 


1 

1 

2 

6 

17 


27 

1827.... 




1 

10 

18 


9Q 

1828.... 

1 

2 

2 

2 

7 

17 


<w«7 

31 

1829.... 



1 

1 

6 

14 


22 

1830.... 


1 

1 

2 

4 

11 


19 









2 

14 

21 

31 

182 

440 

51 

741 


R. Jones, Adjutant General. 


Adjutant General’s Office, 

Washington, 27th January, 1831. 

Statement showing the number of promotions in the Army by brevet, in each grade respec¬ 
tively, since 1816. 


A. D. 

No. of 
Brigadier 
Generals 
promoted 
to Major 
Generals 
by brevet. 

No. of 
Colonels 
promoted 
to Brigadier 
Generals 
by brevet. 

No. of 
Lieutenant 
Colonels 
promoted 
to Colonels 
by brevet. 

No. of 
Majors 
promoted 
to Lieu¬ 
tenant 
Colonels 
by brevet. 

No. of 
Captains 
promoted 
to Majors 
by brevet. 

No. of 

1st Lieu¬ 
tenants 
promoted 
to Captains 
by breA’et. 

Aggre¬ 

gate. 

1816. 




. 




1817. 





1 


i 

1818. 





1 


l 

1819. 








1820. 








1821. 








1822. 


i 


1 

3 


5 

1823. 


l 

2 

5 

12 

1 

21 

1824. 


3 

4 

6 

14 

3 

30 

1825. 



2 

2 

2 


6 

1826. 


2 


2 

2 


6 

1827. 




1 

5 

2 

8 

1828.. 

1 

2 

1 


10 

11 

25 

1829. 





1 

2 

3 

1830.. 

















1 

9 

9 

17 

51 

19 

106 


R. Jones, Adjutant General. 























































































296 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[21st Congress, 


Rep. No. 86. 

NAVY PENSION FUND. 

To accompany Bill H. R. No. 639. 


February 18, 1831. 

# 

Mr. Hoffman, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, 
following 


report: 


made the 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom has been referred the 
Memorials of several persons, praying a pension to be made charge¬ 
able on the Navy Pension Fund, report: 

That they have had under consideration the subject of the said 
fund, and the pensions chargeable thereon, and herewith report a 
bill upon the subject. 

This fund was created by the 9th section of the act of March 2 ; 
1799, (vol. 3, p. 250,) which was repealed by the “Act for the better 
government of the Navy of the United States,” of April 23, 1800, (vol. 
3, p. 361,) the ninth section of which enacts: 

“That all money accruing, or which has already accrued to the 
United States from the sale of prizes, shall be and remain forever a 
fund for the payment of pensions and half pay, should the same 
be hereafter granted to the officers and seamen who may be entitled 
to receive the same; and if the said fund shall be insufficient for the 
purpose, the public faith is hereby pledged to make up the deficiency; 
but if it should be more than sufficient, the surplus shall be applied 
to making further provision for the comfort of the disabled officers, 
seaman, and marines, and for such as, though not disabled, may 
merit, by their bravery, or long and faithful services, the gratitude 
of their country.’’ 

This fund was, therefore intended for three purposes. 

The first of these was, with the pledge of the public faith to support 
it, to provide pensions and half pay to officers, seamen, and marines, 
disabled by wounds in the line of their duty; and this intention was 
executed in the 8th section of the same act, which declares: 

That every officer, seaman, and marine, disabled in the line of his 
duty, shall be entitled to receive for life, or during his disability, a 
pension from the United States, according to the nature and degree 
of his disability, not exceeding one-half of his monthly pay. 

Article second of these intentions is, out of the surplus of the fund 
to make further provision for the disabled officers, seamen, and 
marines, and was executed in the provisions of the act of April 16, 
1816, vol. 6, p. 66, section 7, which enacts, “that, in cases where the 
allowance of the half monthly pay which may now be granted by law 
to officers, seamen, and marines, disabled in the service of the United 
States, shall, in the opinion of the Commissioners of the Navy Pen¬ 
sion Fund, from the nature and extent of the disability, and the 
situation of the party disabled, be inadequate to his necessary sub- 



2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


297 


sistence, the Commissioners shall be, and hereby are, authorized, in 
their discretion, to increase such allowance to any sum not exceeding 
the full amount of the monthly pay, to which the party so disabled 
was by law entitled in the said service/’ 

The following are pecial cases for disabled persons, specifying the 
essential particulars of each case: 

Cant. S. Harding: act, Feb. 6, 1807, vol. 4, p. 78: at half his 
monthly pay to take effect from January 1, 1804, as stated in the act. 
‘who has been so disabled in the line of his duty while in service, 
that he is unable to support himself by labor.” 

Capt. Abraham Whipple: act, Dec. 12, 1811, vol. 4, p. 363: at 
half monthly pay to commence January 1, 1810, for the same cause 
above quoted. 

William Munday: April 16, 1816, vol. 6, p. 60: at $20 a month for 
‘‘the loss of both his arms in an attack on the enemy at Leonard’s 
Creek on the 28th day of June, 1814, in lieu of the pension to which 
he is now entitled by law.” 

James Merril: act of May 4, 1820, vol. 6, p. 494: to be placed on 
the Navy Pension list, to take effect from Oct. 23, 1819, “who, whilst 
engaged in the discharge of his duty as an ordinary seaman on board 
the United States’ ship Adams in the month of May, 1814, was acci¬ 
dentally injured by falling from the gun deck into the hold of the ship, 
which injury has disabled him from obtaining a subsistence by his 
labor.” 

William Thompson: act of May 20, 1826, vol. 7, p. 500: “a sea¬ 
man who was wounded on board the Cutter Louisiana, August 10, 
1819, with a musket ball,” to be placed “upon the pension list in the 
same manner, and upon the same terms, as if he had received the 
said wound in the naval service of the United States.” 

In the act of July 26, 1813, (vol. 4, p. 579,) to authorize the Presi¬ 
dent to raise a corps of sea-fencibles, of not exceeding ten companies, 
for a term not exceeding one year, to be employed on land or water 
for the defence of ports and harbors, sec. 4, it is enacted, that the 
officers, warrant officers, boatswains, and men, raised pursuant to 
this act, shall be entitled to the like compensation, in case of disa¬ 
bility incurred by wounds or otherwise in the service of the United 
States, as officers, warrant officers, and seamen, in the present naval 
establishment.” 

The act of April 18, 1814, (vol. 4, p. 690,) enacts, “that the officers 
and seaman of the revenue cutters of the United States, who have 
been, or may be, wounded or disabled in the discharge of their duty, 
whilst co-operating with the Navy, by order of the President of the 
United States, shall be entitled to be placed on the Navy pension list, 
at the same rate of pension, and under the same regulations and 
restrictions, as are now provided by law for the officers and seamen 
of the Navy.” 

In relation to some of these special cases, and the two last cited 
acts, and especially that respecting sea fencibles, the Committee will 
remark, that the legislation of Congress has appropriated the moneys 
of the fund for purposes for which it is thought those of the general 
treasury should have been taken; and certainly it could not have 
been the intention of Congress, in enacting the ninth section of the 
Act of April 23, 1800, to apply the moneys of the fund to persons who 


298 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[21st Congress, 


could not, in the course of their services, be expected to contribute 
to the fund by captures of prizes. 

The eighth section of the act of April 23, 1800, and the seventh 
section of the act of April 16, 1816, appear to have carried the first 
and second intentions of the ninth sections of the act of 1800 into full 
effect, and have made ample provision for disabled officers, seamen t 
and marines. 

The third intention of the ninth section of the act of April 23, 1800, 
is, out of the surplus of the fund to make provision for such officers, 
seamen, and marines, as, though not disabled, may merit, by their 
bravery, or long and faithful services, the gratitude of their country.” 
Although every thing in the history of the Naval service has called 
as strongly for such a provision as it is supposed future circumstances 
ever can, the Committee find only one instance of the kind in more 
than a quarter of a Century. For that cause, clearly expressed in 
the Act of March 2, 1821, (vol. 6, p. 558,) Congress directed Captain 
Samuel Tucker to be placed upon the Navy list of invalid pensioners 
of the United States, at the rate of twenty dollars per month, to 
commence from January 1, 1818. With this solitary exception, the 
Committee find that intention wholly unexecuted. 

The legislation of Congress does not show, very distinctly, why this 
purpose has been abandoned. The pursuit of it would at once have 
made provision for the veteran whose life had been devoted to his 
country, until age had palsied his limbs; and, retiring to enjoy the 
bounty of his country, younger men, in the prime of life, the vigor of 
intelligence, and warm with the love of glory, would have supplied 
his place, and strengthened the Naval service. The Committee must 
therefore, regard the abandonment of this intention, under such 
circumstances, as expressive of a reluctance in Congress, which they 
cannot expect to be able to remove. 

Indeed the whole purpose of Congress appears to have been changed; 
and much of the surplus of the fund has been appropriated to pay 
pensions to widows and children. The reasons for this change 
existed most strongly in the difficulties of the late war; and the power 
to make it may perhaps be found in the consideration that the prizes 
and money arising from them are the property of the United States, 
who are, therefore, as well the founders and donors of the fund as its 
governors. Congress seem to have considered the fund as entirely 
subject to legislation; but it is fair to presume that all its legislation 
on this subject has been designed to secure a more ready engagement 
in the service, or faithful and fearless discharge of duty in it. 

The Committee will now, as briefly as may be, refer to the several 
acts granting as well as those renewing pensions to widows and 
children, chargeable on this fund. 

The first of these is the act of January 20, 1813, vol. 4, page 486, 
which enacts, that, if any officer of the Navy or marines shall be 
killed, or die by reason of a wound received in the line of his duty, 
leaving a widow, or, if no widow, a child or children under sixteen 
years of age, such widow, or, if no widow, such child or children shall 
be entitled to receive half the monthly pay to which the deceased was 
entitled at the time of his death, which allowance shall continue for 
and during the term of five years; but, in the case of the death or 
intermarriage of such widow before the expiration of the said term of 
five years, the half-pay for the remainder shall go to the child or 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


299 


children of the deceased officer: Provided, That such half-pay shall 
cease, on the death of such child or children/’ to be paid out of the 
Navy pension fund. The act of March 4, 1814, vol. 4, page 653, 
section 2, enacts, “that if any seaman or marine belonging to the 
Navy of the United States shall die, or if any officer, seaman, or 
marine, belonging to the Navy of the United States, shall have died 
since the eighteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand 
eight hundred and twelve, by reason of a wound received in the line 
of his duty, leaving a widow, or, if no widow, a child or children,” &c., 
and directs them to be placed on the Navy pension list, as in t«he act 
above quoted. 

The only other act granting pensions to widows and children, is 
that of March 3, 1817, Vol. 6, p. 212, which extends these pensions 
on like terms and conditions to the widows and children of any officer, 
seaman, or marine, “who shall die, or shall have died since the 18th 
day of June, 1812 , in consequence of disease contracted, or of casualties 
or injuries received while in the line of his duty.” And this act was re¬ 
pealed in a special manner by the 2d section of the act of January 
22, 1824, vol. 7, p. 213, which enacts, “that, from and after the pass¬ 
ing of this act,” the act of March 3,1817, “be, and the same is hereby, 
repealed: Provided, however, that nothing in this act contained shall 
be construed to prevent the payment of any pension already granted, 
until the full expiration of the period thereof; nor to affect or im¬ 
pair the rights of any person or persons which may have accrued 
during the existence of the act hereby repealed, as aforesaid.” 

Although some contrariety in the decisions granting, renewing, or 
refusing pensions to widows and children, under these and other acts, 
may be found, the Committee believe that these general rules have 
been adopted and intended to be adhered to. First, that, under the 
three above acts, the right of the claimant to the pension became 
vested on the death of the husband or father from any of the causes 
specified in the acts; and, second, that the pension began to run from 
that death, though the proof was not made, or the claim asserted, 
until long afterwards. On these principles, where the death occurred 
before the repeal by the act of January 22, 1824, the pension for a 
death by any disease contracted, or casualty or injury received in the 
line of duty, under the act of March 3, 1817, would be granted,'though 
the claim was made after the repeal; and though the,death may not 
have happened until after the repeal, yet, if the disease was con¬ 
tracted, or the casualty or injury causing it was received before the 
repeal, it will appear, by an examination of some of the cases, that 
the right to the pension has been considered as saved by the proviso 
to the 2d section of the repealing act; but it is difficult to maintain 
such a construction, though the Committee, in the bill they report,, 
do not intend to affirm or deny this forced construction. 

Three several acts have been passed, extending, each for a term 
of 5 years, certain of these pensions to widows and children. The act 
of March 3, 1819, enacts, “that, in all cases where provision has been 
made by law for five year’s half-pay to the widows and children of 
officers, seamen, and marines, who were killed in battle, or died of 
wounds received in battle, or who died in the naval service of the 
United States during the late war, the said provision shall be con¬ 
tinued for the additional term of five years, to commence at the end 
of the first term of five years, in each case respectively, making the> 


300 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[21st Congress, 


provision equal to ten year’s half pay,” to be paid out of the pension 
fund, with like limitations as in the acts granting these pensions. 

The most liberal construction of which this act appears susceptible, 
is, that it renews the pension to the widows and children where the 
husband or father, first, was at any time killed in battle, second, at 
any time died of wounds received in battle, or, thirdly, at any time 
during the late war died of disease contracted, or casualty or injury 
received in the line of duty. But a reference to the cases decided 
under this act, and those passed subsequently, and both similar and 
dependent on it, will, it is believed, show that this construction has 
at times been superseded by one either entirely more enlarged or 
somewhat more restraining. At present it is believed that the 
restraining clause, during the late war, is held to apply equally to the 
three members of the sentence in which it occurs—a safe construction 
in practice, and which the Committee do not seek to disturb. 

The act of January 22, 1824, Vol. 7, page 213, section 1st, extends 
these pensions, on like terms and limitations, for a further term of 
five years, making fifteen years’ provision in all cases where the 
husband or father was killed in battle, or died in the Naval service 
of the United States during the late war, “ and also in all cases where 
provisions has been made for extending the term for five years in 
addition to the first term of five years,” and the act of May 23, 1828, 
laws 20th Congress 1st session, p. 65, in substantially the same words, 
extends the same pensions, on like terms, for the further term of five 
years, making a term of twenty years to all the pensions whose case 
comes within the provision of these extending acts. 

The Committee will not detain the House by any further comments 
on the variant and discordant constructions given at different times 
to these acts. They will sufficiently appear in the printed documents, 
and would probably be more apparent, if the cause for which a pension 
has been granted or renewed could be ascertained in every case, or if 
the causes and grounds of applications denied could be known. 

The Committee will now refer, with all praticable brevity, to a few 
anomalous cases of pensions to widows charged on this fund. 

A pension for five years, on the usual limitations, was granted by 
act of May 16, 1826, Vol. 7, p. 475, to Penelope Denny, the mother of 
James Denny, late a quarter gunner in the Navy, killed in battle, 
without leaving a widow or issue, and at the time of his death contrib¬ 
uting Wan allotment of part of his pay to the support of his poor aged 
and infirm mother, then a widow. A like pension for like cause was 
afterwards granted to Elizabeth Mays, by the act of March 25, 1830, 
laws 1st Session 21st Congress, p. 40, to commence September 3, 
1829. No pension of this discretion has been renewed; and, in the 
opinion of the Committee, sound policy does not require that they 
should be extended. 

The act of April 12, 1814, Vol. 4, p. 680, directs that Mary Cheever 
should, from that time, be paid out of the Navy pension fund, during 
her life, twenty-five dollars, quarter-yearly, -‘as a gratuity from 
Congress, on account of the distinguished bravery and services of 
her two sons, John Cheever and Joseph Cheever, who were seamen 
on board the frigate Constitution, and who were slain at the capture 
of the British frigate Java.” 

That such devotion to the service of the Country, as was exhibited 
in the life and death of these seamen, should be rewarded with that 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


301 


most durable of all monuments—a record in the statute books of a 
free people, is natural and right; but it is to be regretted that Congress 
should divert this fund to the purpose of gratuities, even to the 
mother of such children, when they had at their disposal the general 
treasury. 

The act of April 2, 1816, vol. 6, p. 27, requires to be placed on the 
pension rolls of the fund those persons who were wounded at Dartmoor 
prison, in England, in the month of April, 1815; also, the widows and 
children of such as were killed, or who died in consequence of wounds 
received there; and the act prescribes no limitations as to the amount 
or duration, except as it declares, “that, in the allowance of pensions 
to the persons aforesaid, the regulations established by law, in relation 
to the placing persons on the list of Navy Pensioners, be observed,” and 
the act to take effect from April 6, 1815. The act of March 3, 1830, 
laws p. 39, grants a pension to Abigail Appleton, whose husband died 
with the small pox at Dartmoor. This case was supposed to fall 
within the equity of the act of April 2, 1810. 

The Committee will now advert to the acts for the management of 
the fiscal concerns of the fund. 

The tenth section of the act of April 23, 1800, vol. 3, p. 361, enacts, 
“that the said [Navy Pension] fund shall lie under the management 
and direction of the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of the 
Treasury, and the Secretary of War, for the time being, who are 
hereby authorized to receive any sums to which the United States 
may be entitled, from the sale of prizes, and employ and invest the 
same, and the interest arising therefrom, in any manner which a 
majority of them may deem most advantageous; and it shall be the 
duty of the said Commissioners to lay before Congress, annually, in 
the first week of their session, a minute statement of their proceedings 
relative to the management of said fund.” 

The act of March 26, 1804, vol. 3, p. 615, provides, that the money 
accruing to the fund shall be paid to and disbursed by the Treasurer 
of the United States; that the Comptroller of the Treasury should 
direct suits to recover moneys due the fund; that the Commissioners 
should appoint a Secretary, to perform all duties in relation to the 
fund, they should require of him, to be paid out of the fund a salary 
of two hundred and fifty dollars a year; and that the Commissioners 
of the fund make such regulations as should appear expedient, for 
the admission of persons on the roll of Navy Pensioners, and for the 
payment of the pensions. If more efficient means can be required to 
enable the Commissioners of the fund to secure its interests, they will 
be found in the act of April 16, 1816, vol. 6, p. 64 to 66. 

In the execution of the duties enjoined on the Commissioners by the 
last clause of the tenth section of the act of April 23, 1800, they have 
made an annual report, which has not usually been received until 
January or February. The defects in this report were pointed out in 
the report of the Committee on Naval Affairs to the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives,. of March 2, 1829; Reports of the House, No. 104. 

In the reports made since that time, these defects have been sup¬ 
plied in all new cases, and as far as practicable in all old ones; and the 
reports will, in a few years, serve to show the progress of the fund, 
its losses and gains, and the operation of the several acts granting 
pensions chargeable thereon. One defect in the report, not then 
pointed out, should be supplied, by stating what vessel had been 


302 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[21st Congress, 


captured, and by what vessel, and when the prize was taken from the 
sale of which the prize money paid in shall have arisen. 

By a reference to the annual report for 1829, dated February 13, 
1830, 1st session 21st Congress, Document No. 63, page 49, the losses 
of the fund may be stated: 

1. In commissions and brokerage, mostfy paid to clerks in the Navy Depart¬ 


ment... $4, 944. 78 

2. Miscellaneous charges for blanks, printing, &c..^... 552.17 

3. In Columbia Bank stock, considered as a loss to the fund, (vide page 

40) to. 99, 502. 60 

4. Brokerage paid in 1830, vide annual report January 27, 1831, House 

Document No. 75. 194. 52 


In some cases of the purchases of stock, where brokerage has been 
paid, as in the last item, a saving to the fund has been made by the 
discount; but the moneys of the fund are hazarded, and its income 
rendered uncertain, by these repeated investments. The loss in the 
Columbia bank stock, too, is a strong admonition against any stock¬ 
jobbing in the fund. To save these commissions, and avoid these 
losses, as well as render the income of the fund regular and certain, 
and make its fiscal concerns of management easy and simple in detail, 
the Committee, in their bill, authorize the disposal of the stocks of the 
fund, and limit investments in stocks, for the payment of which the 
public faith of the United States, or of some State, is pledged, and in 
none other. Several of the States, in aid of their internal improve¬ 
ments, have created stocks, bearing interest, redeemable after many 
years; and it is to be presumed that loans of this kind will be made 
every year by some of the States. The provisions of the present bill, 
it is expected, will enable the Commissioners to invest the moneys of 
the fund in some of these stocks, by purchase or loan, on good terms, 
and, once done, the management of the fiscal concerns of the fund 
will be made easy and safe. 

The present state of the fund is so clearly exhibited in the annual 
report of January 27, 1831, House Document No. 75, that the Com¬ 
mittee will refer to it without repeating its details. It is proper, 
however, to remark, that a careful consideration of the subject obliges 
the Committee to say, that, in their opinion, the revival of the act 
of March 3, 1817, would create a charge upon the fund considerably 
beyond its income. Vide their report, 2d session 20tli Congress, 
March 2, 1829, House of Representatives, No. 103. 

On principles of public policy, the Committee are of opinion that 
the pensions should extend to all the cases of the death of the husband 
or father, caused by injuries peculiar to the military marine; but they 
do not think that a pension should be promised in cases where the 
death of the husband or father occurs from a cause, common, natural, 
and usually incident to persons in the civil marine or merchant service. 
To illustrate this distinction, the Committee would remark, that, as 
ships in the Naval service are better built, rigged, manned, and 
navigated, than in the merchant service, the persons on board are less 
exposed to loss of life from the sinking of the ship, or other nautical 
injuries, than those in the civil marine. The same remark will apply 
to the superior health and medical attendance in the Navy; and in 
such and the like cases no pension should be granted. But, if the 
death is caused by injuries, military or warlike in their nature, as by 
a fall or other injury sustained in, and by reason of, an engagement ; 






2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


303 


or if the death should be from drowning, where the vessel or boat is 
sunk by reason of injuries received in any engagement, the pension 
appears proper. The Committee have sought to establish this rule 
by their bill; and, in principle, policy, or equal justice, if they go 
beyond this limit, the act of 1817 should be revived, and the widows 
should be placed on the pension list of all who die of disease con¬ 
tracted, or casualty or injury received in the line of duty, or in its 
practical effect the United States should ensure against every death 
of persons in the Naval service by a pension to his widow and children. 

The pensions to widows have been limited to five years, and during 
widowhood. By the first of these limitations the pension is made 
uncertain; and, if withheld, the widow is supported when younger 
and most able to provide for herself, and left unprovided for when time 
has enfeebled her, and hurried the friends on which she might once 
have depended. By the second of these limitations marriages are 
injuriously discouraged. The Committee propose to remedy these 
evils, by granting the pension to the widow for life, as a feme sole, 
notwithstanding any marriage. Perhaps, too, this is the best pro¬ 
vision for the children while young, as it will put it into the power of 
the mother, always their best friend, to aid support them, notwith¬ 
standing her future marriage. 

By the provisions of the laws already cited, the public faith is 
pledged to make the fund equal to the payment of the half pay pen¬ 
sions to invalids; and the Committee, in the bill now submitted, pro¬ 
vide that invalid pensions may be paid out of the principal moneys 
of the fund, if the income should be different. They do this, as well 
to preserve the public faith, as because they suppose that Congress 
will reimburse the fund all its losses, including those which may arise 
from these payments of its principal moneys. 

The pensions to widows and children, heretofore granted by law, 
are equal to the half pay of the deceased. In the present bill, the 
Committee intend to grade the pensions so as to afford persons in 
every condition of life a moderate share of relief; which will, in a very 
small degree, enhance the pittance to the lowest, and, though reduced, 
leave to the higher a respectable pension. 

These pensions are reduced in amount, among other, for these 
reasons: because, 

1. A pension for life is much more valuable than a pension for 
years, and especially when the limitation of widowhood is removed. 

2. The pensions to which the claimants may now have a vested 
right are not intended to be reduced unless the income of the fund 
should prove insufficient; and the Committee fear that the income 
of the fund may not be sufficient to pay the pensions, which, after 
the passage of the contemplated act, will be chargeable upon it, if 
they either adopt a higher grade of pensions, or extend it to other 
classes. 

3. If the income of the fund shall be so invested as to secure a 
permanent income beyond the pensions now made chargeable on it, 
Congress may increase these rates of pension so as to grade them in 
amount more in accordance with the real wants of the widows and 
children, and especially with reference to these female orphans. 

Many difficulties appear to have arisen in giving a construction to 
the repealing section of the act of January 22, 1824. To avoid these 
difficulties, the Committee do not intend to affect the vested rights of 


304 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[21st Congress, 


any claimant to a pension; nor do they intend that any pension to a 
widow, child, or children, shall hereafter be granted for any cause 
which shall accrue, arise or happen, after the passage of the bill now 
reported. Heavy arrearages of pensions have heretofore been claimed 
and paid; but, in the case of pensions granted under the bill now 
reported, the Committee design they should commence in the case of 
children from the death of the father or mother, which shall last 
happen, and in the case a widow, from the death of the husband, and 
in no case more than six months before the completion of the proofs 
on which the pension is granted. 


Rep. No. 89. 
GEORGE K. KNIGHT. 


February 18, 1831. 


Mr. Carson, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the 
following 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of George K. Knight, make the following report: 

The petitioner, previous to the month of May, 1814, was the owner 
of a schooner called the “Experiment,” engaged in trade in the 
Chesapeake Bay and its tributary waters, under the command of 
Capt. George McDuell. He alleges that he gave strict orders to his 
captain not to do any thing which would expose his vessel to capture 
by the British forces, which then infested the waters of the Chesa¬ 
peake, nor to engage in any improper trade: that, while said vessel 
was proceeding on her voyage down the river Potomac, she was 
stopped by the commander of a small vessel of war of the United 
States, and taken into the public service as a lookout vessel: that 
said vessel was despatched by the commander of the United States’ 
vessel of war down the river Potomac to look out for British ships of 
war, which were said to be in that river: that, upon turning a point 
in the river, she suddenly came in view of a squadron of British ships: 
that the Captain of said schooner endeavored to make his escape by 
running into Yeocomico creek, but, in doing so, the vessel grounded, 
and was next morning captured by the enemy’s barges, and burned; 
and the petitioner claims compensation for the vessel so captured 
and destroyed. At the time of these transactions the petitioner 
resided in the city of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, and was 
engaged in mercantile transactions; but that, owing to this and many 
other heavy losses in trade, he was compelled to relinquish his business, 
and removed to the western part of the State of New York, and 
assumed the occupation of a farmer. That, at the time of the 
destruction of his vessel, a protest, setting forth all the circumstances 




2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


305 


of the case, was made by Captain McDuell, her commander, which, 
together with other depositions and documents in the case, were 
wholly and utterly destroyed, by the burning of his dwellinghouse 
on the 10th of February, 1830. The fact of the burning of the 
petitioner’s dwellinghous is substantiated by a large number of his 
neighbors. 

It appears from documents with which the committee have been 
furnished by the Navy Department, that the United States’ schooner 
“Asp,” under the command of Midshipman Richard Mackall, was 
dispatched from the Navy Yard in Washington, on the loth of 
April, 1814, to Baltimore, with cannon, and raft of mast pieces in 
tow, intended for the United States’ frigate Java, then building in 
Baltimore: that, after the departure of the “Asp” from Washington, 
the Navy Department was informed that a British squadron was 
lying off the mouth of the Potomac, and that orders were thereupon 
forwarded to stop her further progress. On the 29th of April, the 
commander of the Asp, in a letter dated Ludlow’s landing, informed 
Commodore Tingey that he had obtained certain intelligence that 
the enemy’s squadron was at anchor a small distance below Black- 
stone’s island, in the Potomac, and that, for safety of the raft, &c., 
he should move further up the river. 

It appears from the depositions of Capt. McDuell, who now resides 
in the City of Washington, taken March 29th and April 8th, 1830, 
that, while the Asp was thus lying in the Potomac, arrested in her 
voyage, and beleaguered by the enemy, the vessel of the petitioner, 
pursuing a voyage from Alexandria, in the District of Columbia, to 
St. Mary’s, on the Potomac, was hailed by the Asp, and informed 
that the enemy were in the Potomac below; upon which the “Experi¬ 
ment” cast anchor along side the Asp, the Commander of which 
stated, that, as his vessel was not a swift sailer, and being incum¬ 
bered with a raft in tow, the preservation of which was of much 
consequence, he was desirous of engaging a fast sailing vessel, such 
as the Experiment, as a lookout vessel to proceed down the river 
and reconnoitre the enemy; that he (Captain McDuell) having other 
people’s property on board, and positive orders from his owners not 
to risk or endanger his vessel, declined the service. Upon which the 
Commander of the Asp informed him that he was authorized to 
employ a vessel to look out, if he found it necessary to do so, and 
thereupon positively ordered him to proceed down the river to 
reconnoitre; that he then considered that he had no further discre¬ 
tion in the case, as he considered, in fact, his vessel and himself 
impressed into the public service, by a force which he had not the 
ability, if the inclination, to oppose: that he did proceed on the 
service assigned him, and went cautiously down the river as far 
as Piney Point, keeping as near the shore as possible. On opening 
the point, in the dusk of the evening, he suddenly discovered the 
enemy’s squadron, and was completely within their power, that, 
not being able to return, the wind blowing down the river, he ran 
across the river and endeavored to gain Yeocomico Creek, in doing 
which he grounded: and that every exertion to get the vessel off 
proved fruitless, she was captured next morning by the enemy’s 
barges, who also faithlessly endeavored to get her off, after which 
she was fired and destroyed. Capt. McDuell also states that no 
39889—10-20 


306 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[21st Congress, 


consideration would have induced him to have ventured his vessel 
in the service, had he not believed that he was bound to do so by the 
orders of the officer of the Government, being, as he conceived, 
legally impressed into the public service, and that he could have' 
reached his place of destination in safety. He further states, that, 
shortly after the capture and destruction of the “ Experiment,” he 
entered a protest before the collector of the Port of Yeocomico, 
which he sent to his owners in Baltimore. 

It may be proper here to observe that the respectability of the 
character of Captain McDuell is amply vouched by many highly 
honorable gentlemen of the city of Washington. 

G. Robinson, of Westmoreland County, Virginia, states that he was 
on the shore when Captain McDuell landed from his schooner, who 
then made the same representations with respect to his being 
impressed into the public service as are set forth in his deposition, 
which Mr. Robinson states he has examined. 

John Murphy, the presiding Justice of Westmoreland County 
Court, states that he recollects the circumstances of the vessels being 
on shore, captured, and destroyed; that a Company of United 
States’ troops and a Company of Militia, stationed in the neighbor¬ 
hood, went to her defence: that he has seen Captain McDuell’s state¬ 
ment, and that he has not the least doubt it is perfectly correct. 

Captain Allen S. Dozier states that he was in command of a Com¬ 
pany of Militia stationed a little above the mouth of Yeocomico 
Creek; saw the schooner on shore; that Captain McDuell called upon 
him for assistance to get her off: that part of his company went on 
board, used all the means in their power, during the night, but 
without success: that she was captured next morning and destroyed: 
and that, to the best of his recollection, Capt. McDuell made a 
formal protest before the Collector of Yeocomico, which was, also, 
signed by his lieutenant and himself, setting forth all the circum¬ 
stances of the case. 

Captain William L. Rogers states that he commanded a company 
of the United States’ troops stationed about two miles above the 
place where the vessel was destroyed: that, upon discovering she 
was aground, he went to her relief: that a large armed barge, under 
cover of a heavy armed schooner, was approaching: that all was 
done in her defence with musketry, which time and circumstances 
permitted: and that, during the conflict, Capt. McDuell behaved 
with firmness, and manifested a determination to defend his vessel 
to the last. Capt. Rogers also states, that, after the vessel was 
abandoned by the enemy, he boarded her, with a view to extinguish 
the fire, but that all endeavors to do so were fruitless; that the 
vessel appeared to be from eighty to a hundred tons burthen, in good 
condition, worth from two to three thousand dollars. 

The Hon. John Taliaferro, of the House of Representatives, certifies, 
in writing, to the high standing and respectability of the characters 
of Mr. Robinson, Mr. Murphy, Captain Dozier, and Captain Rogers. 

From this statement of facts, which are amply sustained in the 
opinion of the Committee, the following conclusions present them¬ 
selves : 

That the vessel of the petitioner was captured and destroyed by 
the enemy: that such capture and destruction would not, probably, 
have taken place, if the commander of the United States’ ship Asp 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


307 


had not interfered with the voyage of the vessel, by taking her and 
her commander into his service to reconnoitre the enemy, the better 
to protect himself and the public property under his charge. 

The petitioner alleges, and Captain McDuell makes oath to the fact, 
that his orders were strict and positive to run no risk of capture by 
the enemy, nor do any thing which would be likely to endanger the 
safety of this vessel; and under these orders, and from the declara¬ 
tions of Capt. McDuell, it is fair to infer, that, after he was informed 
of the neighborhood of the enemy, he would have withdrawn up the 
river, or taken such other precautions as would have assured his safety 
of the vessel. This, he states, he was prevented from doing by his 
impressment into the public service. Whether that impressment was 
legal or not, it is not for the Committee now to determine; it is sufficient 
to state that it was the common practice at the time, for officers of 
any grade, both in the Military and Naval arm of the service, to 
impress private property into the public service, and indemnity has 
been made in many such cases; and the Captain alleges, that, 
according to the received opinions, and the practice of the times, he 
did not consider himself as having any option or discretion left, after 
he was told by the Commander of the “Asp” that he had authority 
to impress his vessel or any other vessel into his service, and was 
ordered to proceed in the discharge of duties appointed for him. It 
appears he did proceed in the discharge of these duties; and it was 
in their discharge that the vessel was captured and destroyed. 

Although the Commander of the “Asp” might not have had 
authority from his superior officers to impress the vessel of the peti¬ 
tioner into the public service, yet it should be recollected he was 
charged with a highly important service, upon the successful execu¬ 
tion of which depended the fitting out for sea one of the frigates of the 
United States; it was, therefore, praiseworthy in him to take all 
measures of precaution, which, in his judgment, would tend to the 
preservation of the valuable property in his charge, and for its 
ultimate safe arrival at the place of its destination. One of these 
measures was, in his opinion, to take and dispatch a fast sailing vessel 
down the river to ascertain the fact of an enemy’s neighborhood, so 
as to enable him to decide whether it would be safe to proceed, or 
best to return up the river. The measure resulted in the preservation 
of the public property, and in the subservience of the public interest, 
and in the loss of the property of the petitioner. Had Mr. Mackall, 
the Commander of the “Asp,” neglected to take any or all measures 
within his power to assure the safety of his important charge, it is 
believed he would have been justly obnoxious to censure; and if, in 
doing what, under the peculiar circumstances of the case, he might 
have conceived to be his duty, the public interest was protected, and 
that of the petitioner sacrificed, it is believed that a due regard for 
public justice requires that the damage sustained by the petitioner 
should be made good. W T ith these views, the Committee report a bill 
for his relief. 


308 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[21st Con guess, 


Rep. No. 104. 

CAPTAIN THOMAS AP CATESBY JONES. 


March 1 , 1831. 

Read, and laid upon the table. 

Mr. Hoffman, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom had 
been referred the case of Captain Thomas Ap Catesby Jones made the 
following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the memo¬ 
rial of Thomas Ap Catesby Jones, a Captain in the Navy of the 
United States, respectfully report: 

That the facts in his case are stated in the letter of the Secretary 
of the Navy to the Chairman of the Committee, of February 26, 1831, 
and the law applicable to the case will be found in the act of Feb. 23, 
1800, vol. 3, p. 361, section 8. “That every officer, seaman, or 
marine, disabled in the line of his duty, shall be entitled to receive for 
life, or during his disability, a pension from the United States, accord¬ 
ing to the nature and degree of his disability, not exceeding one-half 
his monthly pay.’’ And by the ninth section of the same act, the 
public faith is pledged to make their fund equal to the payment of 
these pensions, and declares that if the said “fund should be more 
than sufficient, the surplus shall be applied to the making of further 
provisions for the comfort of the disabled officers, seamen, and 
marines.” And the act of April 16, 1816, vol. 6, p. 66, sec. 7, enacts, 
“that, in cases where the allowances of the half monthly pay which 
may be granted by law to officers, seamen, and marines, disabled in 
the service of the United States, shall, in the opinion of the Com¬ 
missioners of the Navy Pension Fund, from the nature and extent of 
the disability, and the situation of the party disabled, be inadequate 
to his necessary subsistence, the said Commissioners shall be, and 
hereby are, authorized in their discretion to increase such allowance 
to any sum not exceeding the full amount of the monthly pay to 
which the party so disabled was by law entitled in the said service.” 

These enactments the Committee consider an ample provision for 
officers, seamen, and marines, disabled in the service; and as Capt. 
Jones has not taken the opinion of the Commissioners of the fund on 
his case, they might conclude here without any further remark on 
the subject. But the interests of the service seem to require a more 
detailed opinion. 

Captain Jones has, as the Committee believe, at all times, and in 
all situations, performed his duty in the service in the best manner. 
As a reward for these services he has been promoted to the rank of Cap¬ 
tain—a rank, as it is the highest known in the Navy, so it is the highest 
reward which the Republic can offer to skill, bravery, and patriotism. 
With this view of the services of Captain Jones, what the Committee 
deem proper to refuse in his case, will scarcely be expected, and cer r 
tainly not asked in any other. 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


309 


But it is said that the wound of Captain Jones, while it leaves him 
able to perform all the duties of an officer in the American Navy, 
yet obliges him to be at the expense of keeping a servant to aid him 
about his person. An examination into the actual allowances of the 
officers in the Naval service while doing duty, will show, that, at the 
yards, shore stations, and at sea, Captain Jones is supplied with serv¬ 
ants to attend him, at the public expense. If he requires more 
servants, which it is believed is not the case, than other officers, it may 
be a reason for increasing his emoluments from the General Treasury, 
but none for charging the expense on the Navy pension fund. 

Whatever is charged on the Treasury comes annually in view before 
the two Houses in the estimates, and, if erroneous or impolitic, will 
be corrected by the wisdom of Congress. But charges once made on 
this fund, the most sacred in the Government, are never brought 
before Congress in the estimates, and must continue and multiply 
without end or correction. 

The pension system, if limited to real disability, will be consistent 
the public feeling and judgment. But if it be extended to per¬ 
sons in the service at full pay, at first to the brave and meritorious, 
and, in the end, to all others, from whatever cause, the disabled in the 
service, the system of Navy pensions will become odious and insup¬ 
portable. Disabled men will in fact receive higher pay than the ablest 
men in the service; and the Navy would soon experience the most 
fatal imbecility and discontent. The Committee will not consider as 
possible such a state of things in the service as must inevitably grow 
up if it shall once be considered as settled, that persons receiving full 
pay are yet so disabled as to be entitled to a pension. No precedent 
for such a construction of the laws should prevail against the good 
sense of the statutes, the most undoubted principles of public policy, 
and the interests, respectability, and usefulness of the Naval service. 

The Committee has availed itself of this opportunity of expressing 
their view on this subject, and do it with the more freedom, as the 
services and character of Captain Jones are such that the denial of 
the pension in his case must be deemed conclusive of the question in 
the opinion of your Committee. They will merely add, that, in 
common with the Congress of 1800, they look to the accumulations 
of this fund, which nothing but the utmost caution can secure, as the 
only source which promises relief to the growing numbers in the serv¬ 
ice, who, “thoygh not disabled, may merit, by their bravery or long 
and faithful services, the gratitude of their country/’ when years and 
hardships shall have made them unable to serve their country in a 
manner conformable to the high character they shall have acquired. 
Therefore, 

Resolved, That the petitioner, though most meritorious in his 
wounds and services, have leave to withdraw his petition. 


Navy Department, 

February 26, 1831. 

Sir, 

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 
22d instant, calling for “all the information of fact, law, and prece¬ 
dent,” relating to Captian Jones’ claim to a pension; and, inreply,Jo 



310 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[21st Congress, 


inform you, that Capt. Jones was severely wounded on the 14th 
December, 1814, in the action on lake Borgne, while commanding the 
Flotilla of United States’ Gun vessels; and that he was at that 
time acting in the capacity of Lieutenant Commandant, and receiving 
fifty dollars per month for his services. He has continued in the Naval 
service from that period, has been regularly promoted to a Captain, 
and now receives pay as such. 

It is stated, that, in 1815, Captain Jones preferred a claim to a pen¬ 
sion from the United States; but their is no evidence in the possession 
of the Department to show that it received the action of the Commis¬ 
sioners. It is understood, however, to have been the custom about 
that period to return the papers in cases of rejected claims, leaving 
frequently no evidence that they had ever been presented. 

In July, 1828, a pension of ten dollars per month was granted to 
Captain Jones, commencing the 14 of February, 1828, the date of his 
Memorial to the Board of Commissioners. This has never been paid, 
nor has it been demanded; but in December last, an appeal was made 
from that decision; and while the case was pending before the Com¬ 
missioners, Captain Jones believing, (as appears by his letter to the 
department,) from the conflicting opinions entertained by two of 
the Commissioners upon the subject, that the board was not likely to 
arrive speedily at any thing like what he conceived to be a just con¬ 
struction of the pension laws applicable to his case, requested a return 
of his papers, and a suspension of opinion, with the view of presenting 
his claim to the consideration of Congress. His papers were accord¬ 
ingly returned, and they furnish all the additional “facts” of the case 
known to the department. 

For the “law” governing this case, I would respectfully refer you 
to the eighth and ninth sections of an act passed 23d of April, 1800, 
entitled “An act for the better government of the Navy of the United 
States;” it being the only law granting pensions to invalids disabled 
in the naval service. 

To that part of your letter requesting information as to “prece¬ 
dent,” “and every other pension allowed in like case,” I would reply, 
that there is but one instance known to the Department, where an 
officer receives his pay as such, and a pension at the same time. On 
the 29th April, 1813, a pension of ten dollars per month, commencing 
the 18th March, 1813, was granted by W. Jones, former Secretary of 
the Navy, to Charles F. Waldo, now a sailingmaster in the United 
States’ Navy, for wounds received in the action between the Constitu¬ 
tion and Java on the 29th December, 1812, he being at that time 
Master’s Mate in the service. The disability for which he was pen¬ 
sioned being permanent, his pension certificate has never been 
returned to the Department for renewal. 

The Memorial of Captain Jones, stated to have been enclosed in 
your letter, has not been received. 

I am, very respectfully, &c. 


Hon. Michael Hoffman, 

Chairman Naval Committee, 
House of Representatives. 


John Branch. 


2d Sbssion.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


311 


Rep. No. 105. 
JOHN McKIM. 


March 1 , 1831. 


Read, and laid upon the table. 


Mr. Hoffman, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the Memo¬ 
rial of John McKim, respectfully report: 

That McKim, by his Memorial, claims for extra services as a non¬ 
commissioned officer in the Marine Corps, detailed in his memorial 
hereto annexed. A full and satisfactory answer to these claims is 
given in the following letter of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Hender¬ 
son to the Secretary of the Navy, of February 4, 1831, which they beg 
leave to make part of their report. 


Navy Department, 

February 5, 1831. 

Sir, 

I have the honor, in reply to your letters of the 8th, and 31st Ultimo 
to send you a copy of a communication from Col. Henderson, com¬ 
mandant of the Marine Corps, upon the claim of Sergeant John McKim, 
whose petition and accompanying papers are herewith returned. 

I am, very respectfully, Sir, 

Your Obedient Servant, 


John Branch. 


The Hon. Michael Hoffman, 

Chairman Comm ee on Naval Affairs, H. R. 


Head Quarters of the Marine Corps, 

Washington, February 4, 1831. 

Sir, 

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 
2d instant, and, in compliance with the direction contained in it, 
state: 1st. That Orderly Sergeant John McKim has officiated, for 
the time stated in his petition, as clerk to the commanding officer of 
Marines on the Boston station, and, that, under the directions of that 
officer, he has attended to the issuing of the clothing to the men on 
the station. The general exemption from military duty has been 
considered as a fair offset for these services. No responsibility 
whatever rested on Sergeant McKim for the proper issue of the 
clothing: and any deficiency would not have been charged to him, 
but to the commanding officer. The mere labor in distributing the 
clothing, and in entering the articles on the clothing return, or in the 
clothing book, was all that was performed by Sergeant McKim, and 
for this he was exempted from tne detailed performance of military 





312 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[21st Congress, 


duty at the post. 2d. Exclusive of his pay in the line, Sergeant 
McKim has held the place of sutler for 15 or 16 years, and has been in 
receipt of an annual sum from that station probably to the amount of 
from 700 to 1,000 dollars. The duties of sutler, entirely distinct from 
his military station, and the profits arising therefrom may, also, be 
considered as an offset to the performance of what Sergeant McKim 
calls extra services. The statement made by Sergeant McKim of the 
amount of money which he has disbursed for the paymaster shows 
that his receipts as sutler must have been large, as it is calculated the 
third of the amount goes into his pockets. Even if he received one- 
sixth of the amount, over $15,000 would go to him which would make 
his annual receipts from that source about $1,000. 

Similar duties with those for which Sergeant McKim has claimed 
remuneration have been performed by Sergeants at other posts; and 
should his claim be established, a door will be opened for many others. 

It has hitherto been considered in the corps, that an exemption 
from Military duty is sufficient remuneration for those noncom¬ 
missioned officers who perform the duties of clerks, and who attend 
to the issue of clothing at the several stations. 

In addition to this exemption, Sergeant McKim has held a lucrative 
situation, and has been allowed to give his attention to its concerns. 

Note. For the balance of the foregoing Report, see page 391. 

I remain, with great respect, 

Your most obedient servant 

Archibald Henderson, 

Lt. Col. Commandant. 

The Hon. John Branch, 

Secretary of the Navy. 


Rep. No. 111. 

FITZ HENRY BABIT—MOTHER OF. 


March 2, 1831. 

Read, and laid upon the table. 

Mr. Hoffman, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom had 
been referred the bill from the Senate for the relief of the mother of 
Fitz Henry Babit, late a lieutenant in the Navy, made the following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the bill 
from the Senate for the relief of the Mother of Fitz Henry Babit, late 
a lieutenant in the Navy, report: 

That the petitioner claims a pension, to be charged on the Navy 
pension fund, for the reasons mentioned in her petition. The only 
proof in support of this claim referred to the Committee, is an unsworn 
certificate of Israel Trask and others, that she was a widow, and that 
her eldest son contributed to her support, and was killed in the attack 
of the British squadron on the frigate President. 

The Navy pension fund is a most sacred trust in the hands of the 
Government ror the relief of those who suffer in the service, with a 



2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


313 


view to make that service the more efficient; every claim for a pension 
on it should be supported by clear and undoubted proofs; and in this 
case there are, in the opinion of the Committee, none of the facts on 
which it rests, and the late period of the session does not allow time 
for an application, as is usual with the Committee, to the Navy 
Department for the proofs which it may be able to furnish. 

The cases of Penelope Denny and Abigail Appleton are the only 
ones known to the Committee to which this has any even distant 
analogy. In each of these cases it was proved that the son had been 
killed in battle, that the applicant was a widow and poor, and that 
the son died without leaving a widow or issue, and at the time of his 
death contributed to the support of his widowed mother, by an 
allotment from his pay. These cases are, in the opinion of the Com¬ 
mittee, the utmost stretch of legislative discretion over this fund; 
but if the proofs accompanying the present bill were such as to bring 
this case within the rule on which the two cited are founded, the 
Committee would feel obliged, from the precedents established by the 
House, to recommend the passage of this bill; yet, even in such cases 
they do not in any case intend to propose a renewal after the expira¬ 
tion of the first five years. 

The sacred nature of the trust in guarding the Navy pension fund, 
the deep interest of the service in its preservation and accumulation, 
and the necessity of proceeding as far as possible by prospective rules, 
equal and impartial, the unfortunate reduction of the privateer 
pension fund, which no effort of theirs has enabled them to induce the 
Ilouse to restore to a numerous class of most deserving widows of 
those slain in the private armed vessels of the United States, all 
conspire to admonish the Committee to proceed with the greatest 
caution, and they respectfully submit that if the proofs in the present 
case should be completed, relief in this case ought not to be granted 
except by a general provision, equally applicable to all like cases, 
which they are not now prepared to recommend; but as there are 
no such authentic proofs, the Committee are obliged to recommend 
the rejection of this bill. 


Rep. No. 112. 
JOHN WATSON. 


March 2 , 1831 . 

Read, and laid upon the table. 

Mr. Hoffman, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom had 
been referred the case of John Watson, made the following 


report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom were referred the 
memorial and petition of John Watson, beg leave to report: 

That the petitioner sets forth that, in December, 1812 , lie proceeded 
to New York for the purpose of contracting with the Government 
Agents at that place for the building of a vessel of war; that he there 
found the late Com. Oliver H. Perry and Doctor John Bullus, Navy 



314 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[21st Conghess, 


Agent, with whom he opened a negotitation on the subject, which 
terminated in a contract between said Bullus and the petitioner, 
under the advice of Com. Perry, by which the petitioner stipulated 
to build for the Government a cutter schooner to be pierced for 
sixteen guns, &c.; that, by this contract, he undertook to build such 
a vessel for the Government, in conformity with a draft to be furnished 
by Christian Bergh, Navy builder in New York, and to have her 
completed by the last of December following; that the said schooner 
was constructed and finished, in all respects, in conformity to the 
contract; and, in December, 1813, she cleared from the port of 
Middletown for New York, and proceeded down the river to within 
about 8 miles of its mouth, waiting for a safe and favorable oppor¬ 
tunity to proceed to New York, which was, during the winter, pre¬ 
vented by the British blockading force under Commodore Hardy, a 
detachment from which proceeded on the night of the 7th of April, 
1814, up the river, and succeeded in capturing the said schooner; but 
that, in attempting to carry her out to sea, she grounded, was set 
fire to, and abandoned; the fire was subsequently extinguished, but 
the vessel was so essentially injured that her repairs cost as much 
as she would sell for. 

The petitioner concludes with stating, that, so far as he was con¬ 
cerned, every thing was done which was required of him by the con¬ 
tract; and the public character of the vessel, and the acts of the 
Government itself, &c., were the causes of her destruction; and that, 
in conformity with the principles which have governed in alagous 
cases, the petitioner is entitled to relief. 

By direction of the Committee, a letter was addressed to the Navy 
Department, asking whether any evidence could be found there that 
any such contract had ever been made on the part of any agent of 
the Government with the said Watson. In reply, the Committee were 
informed that “the records of the Department have been examined, 
and no communications, orders, or contracts can be found relative to 
the vessel for which he claims compensation, &c.” The Committee 
have searched in vain among the numerous papers presented to sus¬ 
tain the case, for any substantial proof that any such contract was 
actually made. The total absence of all such evidence is conclusive 
that the Government was under no obligation to take the vessel when 
completed ; and they cannot believe that any individual would enter 
into such a contract, on the part of the Government, without com¬ 
mitting it to writing, and, at the same time, communicating the fact 
to the Department. Nor do they believe that any obligation to 
fulfil such contract would exist on the part of the Government, unless 
the regular written authority was exhibited from the Department, 
under which the Contract or agreement was made. The Committee 
are led to believe that the sanction of any such principle on the part 
of Congress would be dangerous and destructive to the interests of 
Government, and would lead to great and injurious violations of duty 
on the part of subordinate officers and Government agents. They 
recommend the adoption of the following resolution: 

Resolved , That the petitioner is not entitled to relief; and that he 
have permission to withdraw his petition and papers. 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


315 


Navy Department, 

February 3, 1831. 

Sir: 

I have the honor, in reply to your letter of the 25 ultimo, enclosing 
the petition of John Watson, to state, that the records of this Depart¬ 
ment have been examined, and no communications, orders, or con¬ 
tracts can be found relative to the vessel for which he claims com¬ 
pensation. The Fourth Auditor’s office has been referred to, but no 
correspondence, claim, or information can be found on the subject. 
The petion is herewith returned. 

I have the honor to be, 

Very respectfully, Sir, 

Your Obedient servant 

John Branch. 

The Hon. Michael Hoffman, 

Chairman Committee on Naval Affairs, H. R. 


Rep. No. 113. 
SOPHIA GARDNER 


March 2, 1831. 

Read, and laid upon the table. 

Mr. Hoffman, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was 
referred the bill from the Senate, for the relief of Sophia Gardner, 
made the following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the bill from 
the Senate (No. 109) for the relief of Sophia Gardner, report: 

That the facts in this case are stated in the letter of William Hart¬ 
man, Secretary of the Navy pension fund, to Lewis Gassaway, of 
September 17, 1830, to which the Committee respectfully refer. 

The pension is claimed by the widow of Master Commandant 
Gardner, who since the war died of disease contracted during the war. 

The cause of this disease is not stated. If it be an injury in its 
nature, incident exclusively to the military marine, the case will be 
provided for by the bill on this subject, lately passed by this House 
and sent to the Senate. If the cause of the disease and death in this 
case was some injury to which persons in the civil marine are exposed 
in the usual course of their duties, the Committee are of opinion that 
neither the condition of the Navy pension fund, the purposes for 
which it was created, nor the principles of public policy applicable 
to the service, will permit them to recommend a renewal of the pen¬ 
sion. In the opinion of the Committee, if this case, and all others 
equally meritorious and suffering, and resting on the same principles, 
were charged on the fund, that fund, like the privateer pension fund, 
would sink under the burden. 

They, therefore, feel themselves compelled to recommend the 
rejection of the bill. 



316 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[21st Congress, 


S. Bill No. 118. 
WILLIAM D. ACKEN. 


March 2, 1831. 

Report-- reject it—Bill & Report to lie. 

Mr. Hoffman, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the 
following • 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the bill 
from the Senate for the relief of William D. Acken, report: 

That the facts in this case appear to be truly stated in the letter of 
the Fourth Auditor to Mr. Acken of January 16, 1830. The report 
of the Committee on Finance in the Senate accompanies the bill, and 
proposes to allow “for forage for a horse, forty eight dollars, being the 
amount for which vouchers are produced.” On examination the 
Committee can find only two vouchers, one of April 3, 1829, for horse 
hire, but specifying no sum; and the other without date, signed by 
Whipple Aldrich, for thirty dollars, “for the feed and care of a horse 
of said Acken for two months from the fifth of September last.” It 
does not appear that this voucher has ever been presented to the 
proper accounting officer, and the lateness of the session does not 
permit them to adopt tlieir usual of referring to the Department 
for information on this subject. Under these circumstances, without 
indicating any opinion as to the principle on which this part of the 
claim is rested, the Committee think the proofs in support of it too 
uncertain to sustain it. 

The residue of the claim is for attending 156 days at Washington 
to settle his account, at $1.50 per day. The principal proof in sup¬ 
port of this part of the claim, is the affidavit of Ransom Lockwood, 
that he had offered the claimant $110 a month to aid him in pro¬ 
curing live oak in Louisiana, and that the claimant refused, alleging 
that he had unsettled business at the Departments in Washington, 
“the most difficult part of which, I understood him to say, was with 
the Navy Department.” 

This evidence is at best the mere unsworn declaration of the claim¬ 
ant relative to his reason for refusing an offer which he probably believed 
Mr. Lockwood could not perform. This is the more probable to the 
Committee, because of Mr. Lockwood’s application to the Navy 
Board and to Congress for relief on his contracts for supplying live oak. 
But, without any reference to this probability, the declarations of 
Mr. Acken are equivocal as to the cause of his stay in Washington; 
and if he had said that his stay was caused by his unsettled accounts 
at the Navy Department alone, the Committee could not regard it as 
proof that a stay of five months was necessary or proper. Indeed, 
this allowance of a compensation for staying at the Capital to settle 
accounts should extend only to short periods of absolute necessity. 
A contrary course might lead to the making up of accounts in such a 




2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


317 


way as to give color to the stay. The Department should exercise a 
sound and cautious discretion on the subject; and the Committee do 
not see in the case of Mr. Acken any proof of a strong and urgent 
necessity for his stay in this case. He did not render his-account 
according to the strict terms of his contract, and if he had, all his 
charges would have been allowed. In the exercise of a liberal dis¬ 
cretion the Department has allowed every thing reasonable in his 
demands, and the delay, if any, appears to have been chargeable 
rather to the claimant than the Department. In the opinion of the 
Committee the liberality of the Department in its allowances to the 
claimant of charges not strictly conformable to his instructions, but 
deemed allowable in the service he rendered, ought not to be made 
the ground for allowing him for five months stay in this city, the 
place of his home and family, to settle his accounts. If allowed thus 
far it would be difficult to fix any limit short of the final settlement 
of his accounts under an act of Congress. 

Under all the circumstances of the case, to some of which they 
have adverted, the Committee are of opinion that the bill ought not 
to pass. 


Rep. No. 102. 
LIVE OAK. 


February 26, 1831. 

Mr. Hoffman, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which the 
subject had been referred, made the following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the letter 
of the Secretary of the Navy of January 7, 1831, in answer to the 
resolution of the House of December 16, 1830, respectfully report: 

That they have had the same under consideration. In the inves¬ 
tigation of the subject, they found it necessary to make the call for 
further information contained in the letter of their Chairman to the 
Secretary of the Navy of February 1, 1831, and they refer to his reply 
of Feb. 7, 1831. 

By the resolution of the House, the Secretary of the Navy was 
required to furnish the information contained in his letter, and the 
papers sent with it. His letter of January 7, 1831, contains a state¬ 
ment of the authority under which the purchase of live oak lands at 
Pensacola has been made, and the construction adopted by the 
Department at different times in relation to the authority to make 
such purchases; the contracts for such lands; the conveyances there¬ 
for; the consideration money paid therefor; to whom, and when. 
On these points, the information afforded is specially referred to in the 
letter, and correcting, as the Committee have done, by a note on the 
back of the papers, any erroneous reference to them. The letter 
makes details on the part of the Committee unnecessary. 


31 $ 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


; '21st congress. 


As inspects ihe value of these lands, the information riven is less 
satisfactory. Further examination is. in the opinion of the Com¬ 
mittee. necessary to decide on the fitness and value of these lands for 
the purposes of supplying live oak. 

It is perfectly competent for the Executive to cause the fullest 
inquiry an nations to be made of these and all other lands 

for live oak purposes, without further legislation on the part of 
Congress. 

On the point whether these lands are of a quality, and so situated 
and timbered, as to make them a proper location for a live oak 
nuiserv. the information given is. in some respects, uncertain, and in 
some instances contradictory. The agents appointed by the late 
Secretary of the Navy, after full examination, decide against the 
location, as bad in soil, and not advantageous in timber. 

Under these circumstances, before large sums are expended on this 
or any other location, the Committee advise the most careful and 
satisfactory examinations, and the final selections of those sites 
which combine the advantages of the sea breeze, proper soil, and a 
thrifty growth of young live oaks, in situations as free as may be from 
the incursions and fires of fishermen and hunters, and where the timber 
may be secured against intruders to cut it for home consumption or 
export. The means in the power of the Department to make these 
examinations are abundant, and the disposition to do so most clearly 
expressed. 

borne question has been made respecting the sufficiency of the con¬ 
veyances for these lands, the title and claims to dower in them: and 
there may arise questions as to the trusts or purposes for which they 
are in the deeds stated to be purchased, and in whom the legal estate 
is vested. The Committee would recommend in this as in every other 
case of a purchase of lands, that all the conveyances and title deeds 
be referred to the Attorney General for his opinion: and that the 
Secretary of the Navy obtain, as far as he may be able, from all 
persons, such further and other conveyances and assurances as the 
Attorney General shall advise, to vest in the United States the legal 
and equitable estate in the said lands. Mr. White, by whom they 
have been conveyed, has expressed to the Committee his readiness to 
make any further conveyance which the Attorney General shall 
advise, and there can be no doubt but that the late Secretary will 
cheerfully do the same. At present, therefore, it is supposed no 
legislation is necessary on this point. 

The most material part of the subject is that which relates to the 
quantity of live oak. and the preservation of it for naval purposes. 

The powers of the Executive over these subjects are declared in 
the “ act making reservation of certain public lands to supply timber 
for naval purposes.'' of March 1. 1S17. (voL 6. p. 174. and the ‘ act 
to amend an making reservation of certain public lands for naval 
purposes, passed the 1st of March. 1S17. ” of May 15. 1820, (voL 6, 
p. 542. and the “ act for the gradual improvement of the Xavy of the 
United States.” of March 3. 1S27. (vol. 7. p. 603). 

The penalties provided for the preservation of live oak and cedar 
timber, by the act of March 1. 1817. appear to be sufficient as to all 
lands to which they extend: but doubts may be raised as to their 
application to the lands subsequently acquired by the United States, 
which would include the whole coast of Florida. To remove those 





2* 


REPORTS ASD PROCEEDINGS. 


319 


doubts, the Committee report a bill extending these penalties to 
injuries to the timber on any land-* acquired or to be acquired for 
naval purposes. 

The means provider! for reserving proper portions of the public 
lands for the preservation and growth of live oak appear to be ade¬ 
quate, and no legislation on this subject is necessary. 

In the letter of the Secretary of the Navy to the chairman of the 
Committee, of February 7, 1831, is a statement of the reservations 
made, and the measures pursued and pursuing to ascertain the 
quantity of live oak, and for the preservation thereof. This letter 
refers to many of the papers containing the information in detail. 
Two of these. E and H. specifying the localities of the timber, the 
Committee have returned to the Department, considering the letter 
as sufficiently particular on this part of the subject. 

In that letter the Secretary of the Navy states that ‘the preserva¬ 
tion of the forests of young live oak. in common with other trees of 
larger growth, has been recommended to Congress as an object to be 
prosecuted with an active and undeviating purpose, and to this object 
the Department feels itself bound to devote the most unremitting 
attention. '* 

The means to effect these purposes are deemed sufficient, and 
though there may be no necessity for growing the oak from the acorns 
at this time, the Committee are of opinion that the examinations of 
the public and other lands, to ascertain the quantity and quality of 
the live oak. should be prosecuted with increased industry and adequate 
force. Extensive locations and reservations should be made with all 
possible despatch, and the most efficient means should be adopted to 
preserve the live oak on all such lands, and to encourage and facilitate 
the growth of the young live oaks. 

Note.—F or Documents referred to, ~ee the printed Report Xo. 102. 


Report Xo. 105— Continued From Page 380. 


To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the 

1 nited States of America in Congress assembled: 

The petition of John Me Kim. first Sergeant of the detachment of 
United States’ Corps of Marines at the Xavy Yard near Boston. 
Respectfully represents: 

That he entered the provisional army, so called, at the age of ten 
years, in the year 1709. and remained with it till it was disbanded in 
1800: that, in 1803. he entered the Marine Corps, in which he has now 
served twenty-seven years: that, in 1814. he was promoted to the 
post, vacated by the death of his father, of quartermaster sergeant at 
Washington: that he performed its duties till the month of January. 
1815. when he resigned it for the present post, vacated by the death 
of his brother: that from that time to the present, he has sedulously 
performed the duties of his station, at all times onerous and important, 
and tike additional duties of assistant quartermaster, acting quarter¬ 
master sergeant, and clerk. 

That the duties of assistant quartermaster are considered in the 
army to require the skill and exclusive attention of a commissioned 




320 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[21st Congkess. 


officer, who for the performance of them is exempted from lineal duty, 
and entitled to additional compensation equal to $533 per annum, 
including house rent, when public quarters are not provided, and none 
were provided for your petitioner; that this sum, together with regu¬ 
lar pay and emoluments of a commissioned officer, say a second lieu¬ 
tenant, of $747.58, and expense of his assistant at $202.58 per annum, 
amount, in fifteen years, to $22,247.40. 

That the duties of acting quartermaster sergeant and clerk have at 
all posts, other than that of your petitioner, severally required the 
attention of a non-commissioned officer, each of whom has received in 
pay, rations, clothing, and fuel, $193.44 per annum, both of whom 
would receive in fifteen years the sum of $5,803.20. So that, if this 
sum be added to the amount above stated, and after deducting the 
annual pay, &c. of your petitioner, it will be found that the sum of 
$25,149 has been saved to the Government by his performance of 
duties, the most important of which are generally considered above 
his grade, and all of which are independent of his post, while lie has 
received the established pay and allowances of a sergeant, $193.44 
per annum, and no more. 

And your petitioner further represents that devotion to the service 
has ever been regarded in his family as an inheritance: his father 
commenced his military career in the war of the revolution, and closed 
it by his death in 1814, having within that time placed four sons in the 
ranks, the eldestof whom, after 14 years services, was killed in quelling 
a riot; another of whom died in the service, and the youngest of whom, 
after having served five years, was honorably discharged. That thus 
habitually impressed in his youth with the value of efficient and trust¬ 
worthy non-commissioned officers, he has sedulously labored by mili¬ 
tary exactness and moral propriety to assist his officers, to guide his 
comrades, and to elevate the character of his grade, and in all respects 
to fulfil the duties of the posts to which he has succeeded, and which 
the memory of his father and brother had consecrated to him. To this 
arduous though humble duty lie has devoted his life with zeal that 
has precluded him from any glainful pursuit by which he might have 
provided for the maintenance of his v r ife and seven children, and for 
his support in approaching old age. 

Wherefore your petitioner respectfully and earnestly prays, that, in 
consideration of the duties he has performed, independent of his sta¬ 
tion, Congress wmuld allow him the compensation to which an assistant 
quartermaster would have been entitled by the established rates of 
pay, &c. for the time he has performed the duties of that office, so 
that his old age may be protected from the ills of poverty, that his 
comrades may find in his reward an inducement to labor as he has 
labored, and that now he may be enabled to educate his children to be 
useful in their service, and zealous in their devotions to their country. 

John McKim. 

The Committee, therefore, recommend the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 


22' 1 CONGRESS, l 8t SESSION. 


In the House of Representatives 

of the United States, 

December 8, 1831. 

A Committee on Naval Affairs was appointed, pursuant to the 
standing rules and orders of the House, consisting or 

Mr. Hoffman, Chairman. 

“ Carson, 

“ White, of New York, 

“ Anderson, 

“ Branch, 

“ Milligan, and 
“ Watmough, 


Members. 


Rep. No. 47. 
GEORGE J. KNIGHT. 


December 23, 1831. 


Reprinted by order of the House of Representatives. 


Mr. Carson, from the Committee on Naval Affairs made the 
following 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of George J. Knight, make the following report: 

The petitioner, previous to the month of May, 1814, was the owner 
of a schooner called the 11 Experiment/’ engaged in trade in the 
Chesapeak bay and its tributary waters, under the command of Capt. 
George McDuell. He alleges that lie gave strict orders to his captain 
not to do any thing which would expose his vessel to capture by the 
British forces, which then infested the waters of the Chesapeak, nor 
to engage in any improper trade; that, while said vessel was pro¬ 
ceeding on her voyage down the river Potomac, she was stopped by 
the commander of a small vessel of war of the United States, and 
taken into the public service as a lookout vessel; that said vessel was 
despatched by the commander of the United States’ vessel of war 
down the river Potomac to look out for British ships of war, which 
were said to be in that river; that, upon turning a point in the river, 
she suddenly came in view of a squadron of British ships; that the 
39889—10-21 321 





322 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[22d Congress, 


captain of said schooner endeavoured to make his escape by running 
into Yeocomico creek, but, in doing so, the vessel grounded, and was 
next morning captured by the enemy’s barges, and burned; and the 
petitioner claims compensation for the vessel so captured and de¬ 
stroyed. At the time of these transactions the petitioner resided in 
the city of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, and was engaged in 
mercantile transactions; but that, owing to this and many other 
heavy losses in trade, he was compelled to relinquish his business, 
and removed to the western part of the State of New York, and 
assumed the occupation of a farmer: That, at the time of the 
destruction of his vessel, a protest, setting forth all the circumstances 
of the case, was made by Captain McDuell, her commander, which, 
together with other depositions and documents in the case, were 
wholly and utterly destroyed, by the burning of his dwelling house 
on the 10th of February, 1830. The fact of the burning of the peti¬ 
tioner’s dwelling is fully substantiated by a large number of his 
neighbors. 

It appears from documents with which the committee have been 
furnished by the Navy Department, that the United States’ schooner 
“Asp,” under the command of Midshipman Richard Mackall, was 
despatched from the navy yard in Washington, on the 13tli of April, 
1814, to Baltimore, with cannon, and a raft of mast pieces in tow, 
intended for the United States’ frigate Java, then building in Balti¬ 
more; that, after the departure of the “Asp” from Washington, the 
Navy Department was informed that a British squadron was lying 
off the mouth of the Potomac, and that orders were thereupon for¬ 
warded to stop her further progress. On the 29th of April, the com¬ 
mander of the Asp, in a letter dated “Ludlow’s landing,” informed 
Commodore Tingey that he had obtained certain intelligence that they 
enemy’s squadron was at anchor a small diatance below Blackstone’s 
island, in the Potomac, and that, for safety of the raft, &c. he should 
move further up the river. 

It appears from the depositions of Captain McDuell, who now 
resides in the city of Washington, taken March 29th and April 8th, 
1830, that, while the Asp was thus lying in the Potomac, arrested in 
her voyage, and beleaguered by the enemy, the vessel of the petitioner, 
pursuing a voyage from Alexandria, in the District of Columbia, to 
St. Mary’s, on the Potomac, was hailed by the Asp, and informed that 
the enemy were in the Potomac below; upon which the “Experiment ” 
cast anchor alongside the Asp, the commander of which stated, that, 
as his vessel was not a swift sailer, and being incumbered with a raft 
in tow, the preservation of which was much consequence, he was 
desirous of engaging a fast sailing vessel, such as the Experiment, as 
a lookout vessel to proceed down the river and reconnoitre the enemy; 
that he (Captain McDuell) having other people’s property on board, 
and positive orders from his owners not to risk or endanger his vessel, 
declined the service. Upon which the commander of the Asp 
informed him that he was authorized to employ a vessel to lookout, 
if he found it necessary to do so, and thereupon positively order him 
to proceed down the river to reconnoitre; that he then considered he 
had no further discretion in the case, as he considered, in fact, his 
vessel and himself impressed into the public service, by a force which 
he had not the ability, if the inclination to oppose; that he did proceed 
on the service assigned him, and went cautiously down the river as 
far as Piney Point, keeping as near the shore as possible. On opening 


1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


323 


the point, in the dusk of the evening he suddenly discovered the 
enemy’s squadron, and was completely within their power; that, not 
being able to return, the wind blowing down the river, he ran across 
the river and endeavoured to gain Yeocomico creek, in doing which 
he grounded; and that every exertion to get the vessel off proved 
fruitless. She was captured next morning by the enemy’s barges, 
who also faithlessly endeavoured to get off, after which she was fired 
and destroyed. Captain McDuell also states, that no consideration 
would have induced him to have ventured his vessel in the service, 
had he not believed that he was bound to do so by the orders of the 
officer of the Government, being, as he conceived, legally impressed 
into the public service, and that he could have reached his place of 
destination in safety. He further states, that shortly after the 
capture and destruction of the Experiment, he entered a protest 
before the collector of the port of Yeocomico, which he sent to his 
owners in Baltimore. 

It may be proper here to observe, that the respectability of the 
character of Captain McDuell is amply vouched by many highly 
honorable gentlemen of the city of Washington. 

G. Robinson, of Westmoreland county, Virginia, states that he was 
on the shore when Captain McDuell landed from his schooner, who 
then made the same representations with respect to his being 
impressed into the public service as are set forth in his deposition, 
which Mr. Robinson states he has examined. 

John Murphy, the presiding justice of Westmoreland county court, 
states that he recollects the circumstances of the vessel’s being on 
shore, captured, and destroyed; that a company of United States 
troops and a company of malitia, stationed in the neighborhood, went 
to her defence; that he has seen Captain McDuell’s statement, and 
that he has not the least doubt it is perfectly correct. 

Captain Allen S. Dozier states that he was in command of a com¬ 
pany of malitia stationed a little above the mouth of Yeocomico 
creek; saw the schooner on shore; that Captain McDuell called upon 
him for assistance to get her off; that part of his company went on 
board, used all the means in their power, during the night, but without 
success; that she was captured next morning and destroyed; and that, 
to the best of his recollection, Capt. McDuell made a formal protest 
before the collector of Yeocomico, which was also signed by his 
lieutenant and himself, setting forth all the circumstances of the case. 

Captain William L. Rogers states that he commanded a company 
of the United States’ troops stationed about two miles above the place 
where the vessel was destroyed; that upon discovering she was 
aground, he went to her relief; that a large armed barge, under cover 
of a heavy armed schooner, was approaching; that all was done in 
her defence with musquetry, which time and circumstances per¬ 
mitted; and that, during the conflict, Capt. McDuell behaved with 
firmness, and manifested a determination to defend his vessel to the 
last. Captain Rogers also states, that after the vessel was abandoned 
by the enemy, he boarded her with a view to extinguish the fire, but 
that all endeavours to do so were fruitless; that the vessel appeared 
to be from eighty to a hundred tons’ burthen, in good condition, 
worth from two or three thousand dollars. 

The Hon. John Taliaferro, of the House of Representatives, certi¬ 
fies, in writing, to the high standing and respectability of characters 
of Mr. Robinson, Mr. Murphy, Captain Dozier, and Captain Rogers. 


324 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[22d Congress, 


From this statement of facts, which are amply sustained in the 
opinion of the committee, the following conclusions present them¬ 
selves : 

That the vessel of the petitioner was captured and destroyed by 
the enemy; that such capture and destruction would not, probably 
have taken place, if the commander of the United States’ ship Asp 
had not interfered with the voyage of the vessel, by taking her and 
her commander into his service to reconnoitre the enemy, the better 
to protect himself and the public property under his charge. 

The petitioner alleges, and Captain McDuell makes oath to the fact, 
that his orders were strict and positive to run no risk of capture by 
the enemy, nor to do any thing which would be likely to endanger the 
safety of his vessel; and under these orders, and from the declarations 
of Captain McDuell, it is fair to infer, that, after he was informed of 
the neighborhood of the enemy, he would have withdrawn up the 
river, or taken such other precautions as would have assured the 
safety of the vessel. This, he states, he was prevented from doing by 
his impressment into the public service. Whether that impressment 
was legal or not, it is not for the committee now to determine. It is 
sufficient to state that it was the common practice in the time, for 
officers of any grade, both in the military and naval arm of the service, 
to impress private property into the public service, and indemnity 
has been made in many such cases; and the captain alleges, that, 
according to the received opinions and the practice of the times, he 
did not consider himself as having any option or discretion left, after 
he was told by the commander of the “Asp” that he had authority 
to impress his or any other vessel into service, and was ordered to 
proceed in the discharge of duties appointed for him. It appears he 
did proceed in discharge of these duties; and it was in their discharge 
that the vessel was captured and destroyed. 

Although the commander of the “Asp” might not have had 
authority from his superior officers to impress the vessel of the peti¬ 
tioner into the public service, yet it should be recollected he was 
charged with a highly important service, upon the successful execution 
of which depended the fitting out for sea one of frigates of the United 
States. It was therefore praiseworthy in him to take all measures of 
precaution, which in his judgement, would tend to the preservation 
of the valuable property in his charge, and for its ultimate safe arrival 
at the place of destination. One of these measures was, in his opinion, 
to take and despatch a fast sailing vessel down the river to ascertain 
the fact of an enemy’s neighborhood, so as to enable him to decide 
whether it would be safe to proceed, or best to return up the river. 
The measure resulted in the preservation of the public property, and 
in the subservience of the public interest, and in the loss of the prop¬ 
erty of the petitioner. Had Mr. Mackall, the commander of the 
“Asp” neglected to take any or all measures within his power to 
assure the safety of his important charge, it is believed he would have 
been justly obnoxious to censure; and if, in doing what, under the 
peculiar circumstances of the case, he might have conceived to be his 
duty, the public interest was protected, and that of the petitoner 
sacrificed, it is believed that a due regard for public justice requires 
that the damage sustained by the petitioner should be made good. 
With these views, the committee report a bill for his relief. 


1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


325 


Rep. No. 139. 
JOHN LACY. 


January 5, 1832. 


Mr. Milligan, from the committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the memo¬ 
rial of John Lacy, relative to a claim on the United States, for losses 
sustained in consequence of the omission on the part of the Govern¬ 
ment, to fulfil a contract entered into with him, have had the same 
under consideration, and report : 

That on the 29th of September, 1814, Commodore David Porter, 
acting as agent on behalf of the United States, concluded a contract 
with the said John Lacy, by which the latter covenanted to take to 
Thompson’s Island, twenty able bodied men as laborers, to be em¬ 
ployed there in such manner under his, the said John Lacy’s super¬ 
intendence, as the said David Porter, or any officer in command on 
that station, should direct. The said John Lacy likewise agreed to 
supply them with provisions, to employ cooks, and find them a pas¬ 
sage to and from Thompson’s Island. The agreement was to con¬ 
tinue in force nine months, commencing at the time of the said Lacy’s 
arrival at Thompson’s Island, and ending the day of his departure 
therefrom. The necessary working tools were to be supplied by the 
United States, Lacy holding himself accountable for the same; in 
consideration of all which, the said David Porter, acting for and in 
behalf of the United States, engaged to pay the said John Lacy 
twenty-two dollars per month, for each ablebodied laboring man so 
employed, and one dollar and fifty cents per day for his own services 
in superintending the laborers; also, to make, from time to time, 
such reasonable advances of money as might be necessary to enable 
the said John Lacy to progress in the fulfilment of his contract. It 
appears to the committee, that in pursuance of this arrangement, the 
said John Lacy went to Thompson’s Island with a number of laborers, 
and commenced his duties there in December, 1824; it appears like¬ 
wise, that some time in the month of February, 1825, before the 
expiration of the contract, Commodore Warrington succeeded to the 
command of that station; that he, in behalf of the United States, 
renewed the agreement with John Lacy, upon the terms stipulated 
by Commodore Porter, extending, however, the period to the 1st of 
April, 1826. Lender this second agreement, the memorialist con¬ 
tinued with his laborers at Key West, in the service of the United 
States, during the year 1825; but, in consequence of the sickness which 
prevailed at the aforesaid place during that season, together with 
other causes, the Government was induced to abandon the under¬ 
taking in which he was.employed. Accordingly, on the 24th January, 
1826, he was informed by Lieutenant Paine, on the authority of 
Commodore Warrington, that he might proceed to Barrancas with 
the men under his charge, on the same terms that they were then em¬ 
ployed on Thompsons Island, alleging, at the same time, that lie 


326 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[22d Congress, 


could not vary the terms of the contract, but that he entertained no 
doubt that all reasonable charges, for any extra expense incurred by 
this movement, would be allowed. In pursuance of this order, for, 
as emanating from a military officer acting in behalf of the Govern¬ 
ment, it can be viewed in no other light, the said John Lacy removed 
his men to Pensacola, and continued with them in the employment 
of the United States, until the 20th of April, 1826. It appears to the 
committee, from the evidence in this case, that in consequence of this 
variation of the original contract on the part of the United States, the 
said John Lacy incurred very considerable additional expense, for 
which he has never been reimbursed by the Government. It is 
further alleged by the memorialist, and it appears to the committee 
to be sustained by sufficient testimony, that he also incurred great 
embarrassment, and heavy pecuniary losses, by reason of the Govern¬ 
ment’s omitting to fulfil its engagement of making, from time to time, 
reasonable advances of money. By its failing to do so, he was com¬ 
pelled, instead of coming to some of the nothern cities to lay in his 
supply of stores and provision to make his purchases at Pensacola 
where the price of such articles is always high, and, in this instance, 
was greatly enhanced by the credit he was constrained to ask. The 
committee have not the means of ascertaining from the documents 
submitted to them, the exact amount that, under these circumstances, 
may fairly be due to the memorialist; but, believing that he has a just 
and equitable claim, they beg leave to report the following bill, &c. 


[Rep. No. 290.] 
JAMES SCRIVENER. 


February 15, 1832. 


Mr. Watmough, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the 
following 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition 
of James Scrivener, a seaman in the service of the United States on 
the Lakes, during the late war, begs leave to report: 

That the petitioner claims to be paid the sum of thirty-seven dollars 
and fifty cents, the amount of his transportation money, from the 
naval station on Lake Erie, at which place he received his discharge, to 
Boston, his place of residence ; due under an express stipulation by 
his commanding officer to “all the petty officers and crew” engaged 
in that service. 

It appears by a letter of the 4th Auditor, accompanying the petition, 
that the then Secretary of the Navy confirmed this' act of the com¬ 
manding officer, and that, although the said Scrivener was discharged 
a few days previous to its promulgation; yet, the Secretary, acting 
in a true spirit of justice, “had extended this allowance to all men who, 
at any time during the war, had served on the Lakes;” and further,' 
“that several have been accordingly paid, who were discharged even 
before the arrival of the Commodore commanding on the station.” 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


327 


As it is expressly admitted by the department , that the claim of said 
Scrivener has not been paid, solely on the ground that 11 there is no 
appropriation out of which it can be made;” your committee accord¬ 
ingly report a bill. 


Rep. No. 319. 
JOHN COLEMAN. 


February 20, 1832. 

Mr. Campbell P. White, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made 
the following 


report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the peti¬ 
tion of Sarah Coleman, only surviving sister and relative of John 
Coleman, mariner, deceased, respectfully report: 

That a bill was reported at the last session of Congress for the 
relief of the petitioner. It appears from the annexed letter of the 
Secretary of the Navy, that the sum of one hundred and twenty 
dollars and forty two cents, was due to John Coleman, for prize 
money, on account of the British ships captured in the late war, on 
lake Erie, in which action the aforesaid John Coleman was killed. 
Your committee accordingly report a bill, authorizing the payment of 
that sum of money to his legal representative. 


Navy Department, 

April 7th, 1830. 

Sir: I have had the honor to receive your letter of the 2nd instant, 
accompanied by the petition of Sarah Coleman, which is herewith 
returned. 

The sum of $120.42 appears to be due to John Coleman, for prize 
money, on account of the capture of the British fleet on lake Cham¬ 
plain, in September, 1814. 

The case of John Coleman is precisely similar to that of Edward 
Moore, respecting which a special report was made to the chairman 
of the Naval Committee of the House of Representatives, on the 1st 
of February last. The report was printed by order of the House of 
Representatives, on the 5th of February, and is numbered J 59; to 
which, permit me to refer you for full information on the subject. 

I am, very respectfully, &c. 

Jno. Branch. 

Hon. C. P. White, 

Committee on Naval Affairs, 

House of Representatives. 




328 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[22d Congress, 


Rep. No. 477. 

ANTHONY HUSSEY, ADM’R OF JOS. ROWE, DECEASED. 


May 17, 1832. 

Mr. Watmough, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the 
following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Anthony Hussey, administrator, &c of Joseph Rowe, deceased 
respectfully report: 

That the two following letters from the Fourth Auditor to the 
Secretary of the Navy, disclose the whole facts, and establish this 
claim to $1,427.13. 


Navy Department, Feb. 1, 1830. 

Sir: In reply to the several inquiries contained in your letter of 
the 22nd ult. in relation to the claim for prize money, preferred by 
James L. Ridgely, administrator of Edward Moore, ordinary seaman, 
who was, in September, 1814, killed in the battle on Lake Champlain, 
I have the honor to transmit to you a copy of a report made by the 
Foutli Auditor of the Treasury, and a statement furnished by George 
Beale, Esq., prize agent, which, together, contain, it is believed, full 
information on all the points specified by the honorable Committee 
on Naval Affairs of the House of Representatives. 

I am, very respectfully, &c. 

Jno. Branch. 

Hon. Michael Hoffman, 

Chairman Naval Committee, 

House of Representatives. 


Treasury Department, 

Fourth Auditor’s Office, 

25th January, 1830. 

Sir: In reply to the reference made to me of the enclosed letter 
from the Chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs, in the House 
of Representatives, relative to the claim of James L. Ridgeley, 
administrator of Edward Moore, for prize money, I have the honor 
to state, that, on the 3d March, 1815, Congress passed an act author¬ 
ising the amount of the valuation of each captured vessel of the 
British squadron, on Lake Champlain, to be distributed among the 
captors or their heirs, provided the amount should not exceed $400,000. 

That the amount of the valuation appears to have been $310,000. 

That an apportionment of this sum was made among the captors, 
and the sum of $120.42 was assigned to Edward Moore, who was 
killed in the battle, but has never been paid. 



1st Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


329 


That the whole $310,000 has been paid out of the Treasury, and 
accounted for, except $10, which was carried to the surplus fund. 

That the sum of $290,438.19 of this money, was placed in the 
hands of George Beale, a purser in the navy, and prize agent, for 
distribution. 

That, in his settlement with this oflice, he appears to have produced 
receipts for the whole sum placed in his hands, except $18,863.10. 

That this sum, viz. $18,863.10, was carried to his credit in a settle¬ 
ment made in this oflice May 29, 1823, upon his producing powers of 
attorney from the seamen, authorizing him to receive such prize 
money as might be allotted to them, dated mostly on the 11th Sep¬ 
tember and 26 December, 1814; and that it is not known, nor is it 
believed, that this sum, or any considerable portion thereof, has ever 
been, or ever will be, claimed or distributed; and that it has been, 
by the s,aid agent, applied to his own private use and emolument. 

Very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant 


Amos Kendall. 


Secretary of the Navy. 


P. S. The funds assigned to the above object were disbursed as 
follows: 


By George Beale, as above. $290, 438.19 

By White Youngs. 13, 853. 49 

By amount paid Lieutenant Robert Harley from the Treasury, through 
B. L. Lear, as his share. 5, 698. 32 


$309, 990. 00 


A statement of the disbursements of prize money on 
Lake Champlain: 


Whole amount received.-. $290, 438.19 

Amount disbursed, per statements, at Fourth Auditor’s Office, 

including. $120. 42 

Paid to heirs of Peter Hanson since last statement. $290, 577. 49 


* Still due to heirs of dead men 


3, 


139. 30 
233. 43 


Deficiency 


The above deficiency arises from the following payments 
by order of the Secretary of the Navy, viz. 


Lieut. Perry. 

Lieut. Loomis- 

Private Masters*. 
Herrick * 
Jordan. . 


$2, 012. 75 
1,043. 20 
120. 42 
120. 42 
120. 42 


3, 372. 73 


3,417.21 


January 28, 1830. 


$44. 48 

George Beale. 


* These men were, in the first instance, omitted through mistake, but afterward 
placed on the prize list. 
























330 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[22P Congress, 


Treasury Department, 

Fourth Auditor's Office. 

13th February, 1832. 

Sir : In the case of Anthony Hussey, administrator of Joseph Rowe, 
boatswain's mate, referred by you to this office. I have the honor to 
report that the balance due to said Rowe for wages, and three months 
extra pay. amounting to $112.99. was paid to said Hussey on the 
23rd June. 1S31. he having filed in this office letters of administration 
on the estate of Joseph Rowe, as “his nephew and only heir." granted 
by John Humes, esq., register for the probate of wills. Ac.. in and for 
the city and county of Philadelphia, dated 7th June. 1S31: that there 
is due to said Joseph Rowe the sum of $1.427.13. for his share of prize 
money arising from the capture of the British fleet on Lake Cham¬ 
plain in September. 1814: and that the same remains unpaid, for 
the reasons stated in my report to the Secretary of the Navy. dated 
the 25th January, 1830. made on a call from the Chairman of the 
Committee on Naval Affairs, in the case of James L. Ridgelv. admin¬ 
istrator of Edward Moore, for prize money growing out of the same 
capture: a duplicate of which report was transmitted to the Secre¬ 
tary on the 17th May. 1830. The papers are herewith returned. 

I have the honor to be. 

Very respectfully, sir. 

Your obedient servant, 


Amos Kendall. 


Hon. Secretary of the Navy. 


Your committee have therefore reported a bill for the relief of the 
claimant. 


GRATIA RAY. 


December 27, 1831. 


Read, and laid upon the table. 


Mr. Carson, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 


report : 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Gratia Ray, respectfully report: 

That they have had the same under consideration, and adopt as 
their report, the report to this House made by the Committee on 
Naval Affairs, on the 19th January, 1827, and therefore recommend 
the following resolution, 

Resolved that the petitioner have leave to withdraw her petition 
and paper. 

Note. See Report referred to recorded at page 229 of this volume. 



1st Session'.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


331 


ALEXANDER McDONALD. 


April 28, 1832. 


Read, and laid upon the table. 


Mr. Carson, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 


report: 


There is no evidence to support the claim of Alexander McDonald, 
except his own affidavit as to the services rendered, and the affidavit 
of Isacc Sulivan which proves that said McDonald about five years 
previous to date of deposition placed in deponents possession, his 
discharge from service as a J Marine in the Lnited States service &. 
That said discharge is lost or mislaid, &c. 

Deponent then gives a copy of discharge according to his recoUeo- 
tion. The committee would prefer the Original to a copy given from 
memory after five years have elapsed. 

No proof from any Physician to prove disability resulting from the 
injury alleged to have been received. The Committee are therefore 
of opinion that the petition ought not to be granted, and that peti¬ 
tioner have leave to withdraw his papers. 

Report agreed to unanimously. 


HEIRS OF JOHN HARRIS, DECEASED. 


July 5, 1832. 


Mr. Hoffman, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the memo¬ 
rial of Richard Harris, acting for himself and others, claiming to be 
heirs of John Harris, deceased, respectfully report: 

That the memorialist on behalf of the alleged heirs of the said 
John Harris, claims that they are the legal owners of certain lands 
included in the Navy Yard at Charlestown, Massachusetts, now and 
long in the actual possession of the L nited States, and claims to be 
satisfied for their use and value. 

The papers in this case are voluminous, and many of them originals, 
appertaining, and by the Committee returned, to the Navy Depart¬ 
ment. 

It appears that the lands in question were formerly streets passing 
through the Grounds now occupied at a Navy Yard at Charlestown; 
and that the United States in purchasing the Yard paid for, and 



332 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[22d Cong., 1st Sess.] 


believed a clear and indefeasable title was obtained, to all the Lands 
in the Yard, and that the Grantees of the United States believed they 
made a good and perfect title thereto, as well of the lands in question 
as of the others in the Yard. Under this impression the United 
States took possession of the Lands, and some of the public buildings 
are erected on the Lands in dispute. It is quite certain that if the 
claimants have a right to the Lands, the claim does not address itself 
to the favor of Congress, but is one of a strict legal character, which 
should not be regarded unless it can be enforced by the judgement of 
a Court of Law; and in the opinion of your Committee should not be 
submitted to, unless sustained by the judgement of a Court of last 
resort. 

The United States commenced a suit in the Circuit Court for the 
first Circuit District of Massachusetts, as of October Term, 1830, 
against Richard D. Harris for an entry on these Lands, supposed to 
have been made September 4, 1830, when in fact the United States 
then were and ever since have been in the actual possession of those 
Lands, and the suit, if any, should have been brought by Harris 
against the actual occupant of the Lands. A case was made, and the 
decision of the Circuit Judge had upon it, by which the United States 
were non suited. 

Your Committee do not intend to express any opinion respecting 
the decision of the Court, or the legality of the claim of the memo¬ 
rialist: They think it sufficient for them to say, that the case made 
was imperfect and defective in material parts, and that the legal 
merits of the case from these defects could not appear to the Court; 
that the suit ought not to have been commenced by the United 
States, but should have been commenced by the claimants against the 
officers of the United States who were in the actual occupation of the 
Land, and that in such a suit, considering that the claim is entirely 
destitute of every thing which can recommend it to the favor or 
equity of Congress, the decision should not be submitted to, unless 
sustained by the judgment of the Court of last resort. 

Until therefore such a judgement in favor of this claim is produced, 
the Committee are of opinion that no action on the subject is required 
on the part of Congress. 

They therefore recommend the following: 

Resolved, That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition. 


22" CONGRESS, 2" SESSION. 


In the House of Representatives of the United States. 

December 6, 1832. 

A Committee on Naval Affairs was appointed, pursuant to the 
standing rules and orders of the House, consisting of 


Mr. Anderson, Chairman. 
11 White, 

“ Milligan, 

“ Watmough, 

“ Patton, 

“ Dearborn, and 
“ Lansing. 


Members. 


DAVID GOORLEY. 


February 25, 1833. 

Read, and laid on the table. 

Mr. Patton, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the following 

report : 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, having had under consideration 
a resolution directing them “to inquire into the expediency of refund¬ 
ing to David Goorley, late a private in the Marine Service of the 
United States, the amount expended by him for his homeward pas¬ 
sage from the Port of Leghorn, at which he was discharged from the 
service,” report: That they have examined the papers which accom¬ 
pany the said resolution, and find that, the said Goorley enlisted, on 
the 4th February, 1813, for five years, and that he was discharged 
and paid on the 24th May, 1818, in the Port of Leghorn, by the order 
of Commodore Stewart. According to the statement of the peti¬ 
tioner himself, he was there discharged at his own request. He, 
however, asserts that he was induced to make this request, in conse¬ 
quence of his having been detained in the service seven months 
beyond his term of enlistment, and having been repeatedly deceived 
and disappointed by promises made and violated by his officers to 
send him home in various vessels which returned from the Mediter¬ 
ranean after his term of service expired. The allegations, however, 
are all falsified by the fact stated above on the information furnished 
bv a letter from the Secretary of the Navy, showing that he was 
discharged four days after the expiration of his term of service. 

333 






334 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[22d Congress, 


The Committee therefore report that the said Goorley has no 
claim to have refunded to him the expenses of his passage home; and 
they ask to be discharged from the further consideration of the said 
resolution. 


MRS. SUSAN DECATUR. 


February 27, 1833. 

Mr. Dearborn, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 

report : 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the memo¬ 
rial of Mrs. Susan Decatur, and the accompanying papers, respect¬ 
fully report: 

That they have examined the various memorials, and justificatory 
documents in support of the claim of the gallant officers, seamen and 
marines, and of their heirs, or legal representatives, who destroyed 
the frigate Philadelphia, in the harbor of Tripoli, on the sixteenth 
day of February, 1804, and are fully satisfied that they are entitled 
to the bounteous consideration of Congress; but as the subject was 
thoroughly investigated during the last session, and after the most 
mature deliberation, the bill which had been reported for their relief 
rejected, it is not deemed expedient to introduce another at this 
time, as there is no probability that it could be acted upon during the 
short period which remains of this limited session; therefore the 
Committee recommend to the House the following resolution: 

Resolved , That the Committee on Naval Affairs be discharged 
from the further consideration of the subject. 


Rep. No. 43. 

JOSEPH K. BOYD. 

January 15, 1833. 

Read, and laid upon the table. 

Mr. Dearborn, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the 

following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the peti¬ 
tion of Joseph K. Boyd, respectfully report: That the said Boyd 
represents that he was one of the volunteers in that memorable expe- 






2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


335 


dition, under the command of the late Commodore Stephen Decatur, 
winch eventuated in the capture and destruction of the frigate Phila¬ 
delphia, m the harbor of Tripoli, on the 16th of February, 1804; and 
that he considers himself entitled to the liberal consideration of the 
Government for his services in that glorious achievement; but, 
although the Committee are decidedly of opinion that the petitioner 
has merited the gratitude of his country for his participation in a 
victory which reflected so much honor on the Navy and the Republic, 
and that a generous compensation should be granted for his patriotic 
services; still, as the subject was fully considered during the last 
session, and a bill rejected, which had been reported “for compen¬ 
sating the widow of Captain Stephen Decatur and others,” founded 
on a like claim, it has not been deemed expedient to report another 
bill, when there is no probability of its being acted upon during this 
limited session. Therefore, the Committee recommend to the House 
the following resolution: 

Resolved , That the Committee on Naval Affairs be discharged from 
the further consideration of the said petition. 


[Rep. No. 46.] 

WILLIAM P. ZANTZINGER. 
[To accompany bill H. R. No. 690.] 


January 18, 1833. 


Mr. Anderson, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the 
following 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of William P. Zantzinger, a purser in the Navy, have had the same 
under consideration, and report: 

That, in January, 1829, said Zantzinger was ordered on duty as purser 
of the United States’ ship Natchez, under the command of Captain 
George Budd. All the purser’s stores were laid in by said Zantzinger, 
under the direction and approbation of said Captain Budd, for a cruise 
of from eighteen to twenty-four months; and the Natchez sailed under 
the command of Captain Wm. B. Shubrick, for the West Indies; and, 
after a short cruise returned into the port of New York. In July, 
same year, she sailed again, under the command of Captain Alex¬ 
ander Claxton, to the coast of Colombia and the Brazils; and, on the 
4th of October following, said Zantzinger was suspended from duty 
by said Captain Claxton, and the Captain’s clerk appointed acting 
purser; and, on the return of the Natchez to the United States, said 
Zantzinger was put under arrest, tried by a court-martial on charges 
preferred by said Claxton, found guilty, and cashiered. 

After an official approval of the proceedings of said court, at the 
solicitation of said Zantzinger, the whole were re-examined by the 



336 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[22d Congress, 


Secretary of the Navy, (Mr. Branch,) who had previously approved 
the sentence; which re-examination resulted in a recommendation 
from said Secretary to the President of the United States to restore 
said Zantzinger. The President, upon re-examination of the whole 
proceedings, was induced to nominate said Zantzinger to the Senate 
of the United States for re-appointment, which nomination was con¬ 
firmed by the Senate. 

At the time of the suspension of said Zantzinger from duty, he was 
ordered, by said Captain Claxton, to transfer all that part of the 
stores laid in for the cruise, denominated “ public stores, 77 to his suc¬ 
cessor; with which order he complied, and was credited the amount 
of their cost in his account at the proper department; but the stores 
denominated “articles of second necessity/ 7 and “luxuries,” were left 
on the hands of said Zantzinger. The Captain not having ordered, or 
permitted, a transfer to his successor, they could not be sold or used 
during the cruise, and, on the return of the ship to the United States 
were, from necessity, sold at a considerable loss from their original 
cost; for which loss said Zantzinger prays to be indemnified. 

The Navy Commissioners 7 regulation, page 13, section 11, directs 
that, “when it shall become absolutely necessary to suspend from 
employment an officer having charge of stores, he (the Captain) may 
appoint another to act in his stead until the pleasure of the Secretary 
of the Navy be known. He shall report, by the first opportunity, an 
account of the circumstances which may have caused the suspension, 
and order a survey to be held, and an inventory taken; one copy of 
which he shall forward to the Navy Department, and another he shall 
deliver to the officer taking charge of the stores, who will open accounts 
of the receipts, returns, conversions, and issues, from the period of 
closing the survey. 77 

From which it will appear, that the Captain was authorized and 
required to order a transfer of the purser’s stores, on the suspension 
of said Zantzinger, to his successor. And as said stores were all laid 
in under the direction of his commanding officer, purchased with the 
money advanced by the Government for that purpose, and with 
which money the purser has been charged, it would seem but just, 
when he was deprived of the privilege of disposing of the same to the 
crew, that his successor should recieve them at cost, and a credit to 
the amount thus transferred given said purser in his account at the 
department. The stores thus left on the hands of said Zantzinger 
amounted, at first cost, to $5,923.29, and the nett sales of the same, 
after the return of the Natchez, at Norfolk, were $3,352.53, making a 
loss of $2,570.76, for which the Committee are of opinion, said Zant¬ 
zinger ought to be indemnified. 

The remaining claims which have been presented by said petitioner 
seem to be in the nature of consequential damages, resulting from 
the supposed injury and injustice of his suspension, arrest, and pro¬ 
ceedings thereupon. If the facts of the losses, supposed to be sus¬ 
tained by the petitioner, in this case, were admitted, however hard 
v his case, the committee know of no principle, or usage, in the service, 
that would justify their allowance. The Committee doubt the expe¬ 
diency of introducing this principle into the Naval service, and there¬ 
fore report a bill authorizing the proper accounting officer of the 
Treasury Department to allow said Zantzinger an additional credit 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


337 


of two thousand five hundred and seventy dollars and seventy-six 
cents, being the difference between the cost of the stores left on his 
hands and the nett sales of the same. 


[Rep. No. 47.] 

HORATIO N. CRABB AND JOHN G. REYNOLDS. 
[To accompany bill H. R. No. 692.] 


January 18, 1833. 

Mr. Watmough, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the 

following 

report : 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the memo¬ 
rial of Horatio N. Crabb, report: 

That the petitioner is a first lieutenant of marines in the service of 
United States, and that, on the 25th of June, 1830, he was appointed 
to the command of the marine guard of the United States’ ship of war 
Concord, then under the command of Captain Perry, bound for 
Russia, on special service, and thence to the Mediterranean as a 
component part of the squadron of the United States in that sea; 
that, upon his appointment to the Concord, he receipted to the Quar¬ 
termaster of the Marine Corps for clothing and other stores for the 
guard of that ship, sufficient for a cruise of two years; that the Con¬ 
cord arrived at the port of Mahon, in the Mediterranean, on the 4th 
of November, 1830; that, on the 9th of December, 1830, the memo¬ 
rialist was appointed to the command of the marine guard of the 
United States’ frigate Constellation, Captain Wadsworth, and 
continued as such to the 30th November, 1831, when the cruise of 
that frigate terminated; that, upon assuming his command on 
board the frigate Constellation, the memorialist receipted to the Quar¬ 
termaster’s Department of the Marine Corps for clothing and other 
stores for the guard of that ship; that the memorialist, by thus receipt¬ 
ing to the Quartermaster’s Department of the Corps for quartermas¬ 
ter’s stores, was virtually constituted, and did actually perform the 
duties of an assistant quartermaster; and, by the statement which 
accompanies his petition, it satisfactorily appears that he faithfully 
accounted for the supplies placed under his charge. It further 
appears from the letter of Captain Weed, the Quartermaster of the 
Corps, “that he held the memorialist responsible for all clothing 
under his charge, and receipted for by him.” And it further appears 
from the statement of Captain Weed, that the duties of the memo¬ 
rialist, as connected with the Quartermaster’s Department of the 
Corps, “were performed in a faithful and prompt manner.” 

39889—10-22 




338 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[22d Congress, 


By the regulations of the Naval service, established by the Naval 
Department in 1824, the senior officer of Marines attached to a 
squadron, for his responsibility for the clothing entrusted to him , for 
the use of the guards of the squadron, is allowed fifteen dollars a 
month, and double rations. By the certificate of the Captain of the 
Concord, it appears that that ship, from the 25th June to the 4th 
November, 1830, was on separate and special duty; and it would 
follow of course that the commanding officer of her marine guard 
could not look to, or be under the control of, the commanding officer 
of marines of a squadron. But it further appears by the documents 
in the case, that, instead of the commanding officer of the marines 
of the squadron in the Mediterranean being held accountable to the 
Government for the marine supplies for the ship Concord and the 
Constellation frigate, to which the memorialist was transferred upon 
his arrival in the Mediterranean, that the memorialist, himself, was 
actually accountable. 

Under these circumstances, the committee believe that, as the 
memorialist performed the duty, incurred the responsibility, was 
held accountable, and did actually and faithfully account, he is 
rightfully entitled to the emoluments; and therefore the Committee 
report a bill allowing him fifteen dollars a month for the time he 
actually performed the duties of assistant Quartermaster of the 
Corps. 

Your Committee beg leave further to report on the memorial of 
John G. Reynolds, lieutenant in the corps or United States’ marines, 
that it appears, by the said memorial and accompanying documents, 
that the said Reynolds acted as an assistant quartermaster of the 
corps from August, 1828, until May, 1831, a period of two years and 
nine months, during which he faithfully and correctly performed all 
the duties attached to that department, and incurred all the respon¬ 
sibilities appertaining thereto. On the same principle, therefore, 
which has governed your Committee in allowing the preceding claim 
of H. N. Crabb, they feel themselves bound to grant the prayer of 
Reynolds. 

It further appears by the said memorial, that the said Reynolds was, 
at sundry times, while on the Mediterranean station, ordered to per¬ 
form extra duty of provost marshal to the several general courts 
martial convened on that station. In the performance of which duty, 
it appears, he was put to the necessity of incurring extra expenses; 
and, as by a letter of the Fourth Auditor, dated August 17th, 1831, it 
appears that, when the case of extra expenses is fairly made out, the 
extra allowances follow as a matter of course. Your Committee, 
therefore, report an additional clause, authorizing the Secretary of the 
Navy to cause to be paid to the said Reynolds "the allowances usual 
in similar cases, and for the periods of time which said Reynolds shall 
be able fairly to establish. 

Your Committee hope, in conclusion, that, under the new naval 
regulations, every claim of the character of the two preceding ones 
may be fairly met, and fully obviated and guarded against in the 
future. 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


339 


Rep. No. 77. 

ABUSES—NAVAL SERVICE. 


January 29, 1833. 

Read, and laid upon the table. 

Mr. Watmough, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which 
the subject had been referred, made the following 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the several 
resolutions presented on the 17th instant, by the Hon. Mr. Hogan, of 
this House, with the view to inquire into and prevent certain abuses 
alleged therein to exist in the naval service of the United States, 
report: 

That they have duly and maturely considered the same; and having 
referred the resolutions, with the documents appended thereto, to the 
Navy Department, and received from the Secretary the annexed 
letter, dated January 28th, 1833, containing his views on the subject, 
they beg leave respectfully to submit the same to the House, as 
follows: 

Navy Department, 

January 28th, 1833. 

Sir: I have received your letters of the 25th instant, in relation to 
the resolutions of the House of Representatives, passed the 17th 
instant, on the proper measures to be adopted to prevent certain 
supposed abuses among the officers of the Navy. 

My opinion is not asked on the existence of those abuses at this 
or at any former period, whether practiced by the officer designated 
in the specifications, or by any other officers in the service; but only, 
whether any “ further legislation is necessary to correct the abuses 
supposed by said resolution to exist in the service.” 

In reply to this last inquiry, I can only say, that if such abuses 
have ever occurred, or should occur hereafter, it appears to me no 
further legislation is necessary to correct them; but that the past and 
present authority of the Department, through courts of inquiry and 
courts-martial, is ample for the correction of them; and, it is pre¬ 
sumed, no period has existed when that authority would not have 
been exercised, on due complaint being made for the purpose, sup¬ 
ported by such probable evidence of guilt as would justify calling on 
the officer implicated for official explanation; and ir not given satis¬ 
factorily, ordering on him such judicial proceedings as the circum¬ 
stances" appeared to require. The papers enclosed, are herewith 
returned. 


I am, very respectfully, Sir, 

Your obedient servant, 

Levi Woodbury. 

The Hon. John Anderson, 

Oh m . Naval Comm ee . H°. Rep s . 



340 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[22d Congress, 


Your Committee avail themselves of the occasion to express their 
hearty concurrence in these views, expressed by the Secretary of the 
Navy; and, entering, as they now do, their protest against any such 
future proceeding through the medium of this House, against either 
the naval or military officers of the Government, they respectfully 
ask to be discharged from all further consideration of the subject. 


Rep. No. 81. 

CAPTAIN ISAAC HULL. 


February 5, 1833. 

[To accompany bill H. R. No. 724.] 

Mr. Dearborn, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the 
following 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the memo¬ 
rial of Captain Isaac Hull, of the Navy, respectfully report: 

That the said Captain Hull represents that he was appointed com¬ 
mandant of the Navy Yard in the City of Washington, during the 
month of April, 1829; and that he accepted the appointment, under 
the impression that he would only be required to perform such duties 
as properly belonged to that situation, or were connected with the 
rank he then held in the Navy; but that, soon after he entered on the 
duties of the station, he was called upon to discharge those of a Navy 
Agent, which were foreign to his ordinary avocations, and incongruous 
with his official standing in the Navy. 

Aware that the labors, thus unexpectedly imposed upon him, 
would involve him in great pecuniary responsibilities, and be attended 
with much personal anxiety, he made strenuous efforts to be relieved 
from a task so irksome to his feelings and so alien to his accustomed 
employments, but without success; and, as there was no alternative, 
he endeavored to make such arrangements as would enable him to 
discharge those new duties with satisfaction to the Navy Department, 
and in consequence of which he had been subjected to many diffi¬ 
culties, great labor, and considerable expense. 

After the most zealous efforts, to perform all that was required, 
so perplexing and onerous were these extra duties discovered to be, 
and so hazardous to the responsibilities which were accumulated on 
the memorialist, that from year to year he urged upon the Govern¬ 
ment his anxious desire to be relieved therefrom, as incompatible 
with the proper exercise of his more immediate and important 
engagements as superintendent of the various departments of the 
establishment; for, besides including those common to all the yards, 
there were extensive manufactories of chain cables, cambooses, blocks, 
and of numerous other articles for the general service of the national 
marine, each requiring unremitted attention; and at length, so well 




2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


341 


satisfied were the Secretary of the Navy, the Board of Commissioners, 
and Congress, of the incompatibility of the two offices, that a law was 
passed during the last session, providing for placing the Washington 
yard on the same footing with the others in the various parts of the 
United States, by authorising the appointment of an officer who 
should be specially charged with executing the duties of Navy Agent. 

During the period of more than three years, in which the memo¬ 
rialist acted as Navy Agent, the disbursements, by him made, amounted 
to upwards of 680,000 dollars; and as it has been the uniform practice 
of the Government to allow to all public officers a liberal compensa¬ 
tion for extraordinary services not directely connected with the 
appropriate duties of their stations, it appears but just and equitable 
that the memorialist should be remunerated by a sum which shall 
at least be equivalent to that, which had been formerly allowed, or 
is now paid, for the same services. 

It appears, that previous to the appointment of the memorialist 
to the command of the Navy Yard m Washington, the duties of 
Navy Agent had not been devolved upon his predecessor, but had 
been executed by an officer in the Treasury Department, who had 
received, for his services, a commission upon his disbursements; and 
the agent who was appointed under the provisions of the act of the 
last session, receives a commission upon his disbursements, limited to 
two thousand dollars per annum, with an extra compensation of 
nineteen hundred dollars for clerk hire, office rent, fuel and other 
contingencies, making the aggregate annual sum three thousand nine 
hundred dollars, and, for the period during which the memorialist 
performed the said duties, would amount to 12,675 dollars, while he 
only asks to be allowed, less the clerk hire, which has been paid by 
the Government, the sum of 6,500 dollars. 

From the correspondence of the Navy Department, accompanying 
the memorial, it appears that Captain Hull has been refused credit 
for a sum, amounting to OOIy^o dollars, paid by him in conformity 
to directions from the President of the Board of Navy Commissioners, 
and for which he also prays to be indemnified. 

The claim originated in a contract between Peter H. Green and 
the Navy Commissioners, being an extra allowance on 4,838 T 9 ¥ cubic 
feet of live oak timber delivered, by said Green, at the Navy Yard in 
Washington, at 12^ cents per cubic foot. The Fourth Auditor assigns 
as the reason for not allowing that item of charge in the account of 
the memorialist, that the Navy Commissioners were not competent 
to authorize the payment of a higher price to a contractor than that 
which has been stipulated in his contract; but as the memorialist 
acted under the positive orders of the Navy Commissioners, as will 
appear by the letters and statements appended to this report, and 
as he had neither the means or the right of judging whether or not 
they were exercising their legal authority, it is obviously unjust that 
the consequences of their error should be visited upon an individual 
who had no right to question the legality of their orders, but whose 
position, while it precluded him from the means of deciding whether 
they were right or wrong, rendered obedience to their directions his 
paramount and obvious duty. From these considerations, the Com¬ 
mittee are constrained to believe that the memorialist is entitled to 
compensation for his extra services, as well as to be refunded the sum 
paid for live oak timber; and therefore report a bill for his relief. 


342 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[22d Congress, 


No. 1. 

Statement of the claim of Captain Isaac Hull against the United 
States, for a payment made by him, and for responsibility, services, 
& c., as acting Navy Agent at Washington, D. C. 

Payment made by Captain Isaac Hull, as acting Navy Agent at Washington, 
t D. C., for an extra allowance on 4,838^ cubic feet of live oak timber, 
delivered by Mr. Peter H. Green, for the use of the Navy, at 12£ cents per 
cubic foot. $604. 84 

Note.—The above payment was made under an order 
from the Navy Commissioners, bearing date 29th June, 1831, 
copy of which is hereto annexed, marked A, and has been 
disallowed in the settlement of the accounts of Captain 
Isaac Hull, as acting Navy Agent, at the Treasury Depart¬ 
ment, by the Fourth Auditor and Second Comptroller. See 
Fourth Auditor’s letter, hereto annexed, marked B. 


Claim for responsibility, services, &c., as acting Navy Agent at Washington, 

D. C., from April, 1829, to July, 1832, 3 years 3 months, at $2,000 per 

annum. 6,500.00 

Amount of public money passing through the hands of Captain Hull, during 
the above time, and for which he was held responsible, $680,501.42. 

Whole amount of claim. 7,104. 84 


No. 2—A. 


Navy Commissioners’ Office, 

29th June, 1831. 

Sir: The papers relating to Peter H. Green’s timber are herewith 
returned. If the deficient pieces have been delivered and passed 
the inspection at the yard under your command, then the old claim 
of 12J cents per foot on 4,838 cubic feet is to be allowed, as per Com¬ 
missioner’s letter to Mr. Green, of October 12, 1829, a copy of which 
is herewith enclosed; the whole chargeable to gradual increase. You 
will take the necessary receipts, and as in full of all demands. 

I am, very respectfully, Sir, 

Your obedient servant, Jno. Rodgers. 

Com. Isaac Hull, 

Coming, dec. dec. Washington. 


No. 3. 

Navy Commissioners’ Office, 

12th October, 1829. 

Sir: Your letter of the 21st ultimo has been received. The com¬ 
missioners have again to repeat that they do not feel themselves 
authorized to allow your claim for the difference of $1.42£ and $1.55 
per cubic foot, for live oak timber delivered by you in 1823, until 
the pieces deficient in your contract, and of which you were advised, 
under date of 17th May, 1824, shall have been furnished. When 
that is done, the difference will be allowed: further than this the 








2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


343 


Commissioners of the Navy cannot go; and if this is not satisfactory 
to you, an appeal is open to you to such tribunal as you may think 
proper to apply. 

I am, &c., Jno. Rodgers. 

Peter H. Green, Esq., 

Bath, Maine. 


No. 4.—B. 

Treasury Department, 

Fourth Auditor’s Office, 

30th July, 1832. 

Sir: Tour letter of 28th instant, with your final statement, &c. is 
just received. Your account shall be promptly settled. 

The sum of $604.84, in voucher No. 54, 3d quarter, 1831, was dis¬ 
allowed, on the ground that the Navy Commissioners are not com¬ 
petent to authorize the payment of a higher price to a contractor 
than that which has been stipulated in his contract. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

Amos Kendall. 

Capt. Isaac Hull, 

TJ. S. Navy, Com’ng, Washington. 


No. 5. 

Treasury Department, 

Fourth Auditor’s Office, 

28th Novr., 1832. 

Sir: Your letter of the 26th instant, asking for a certificate or letter 
of the rejection of $604.84, in your account as Navy Agent, has been 
received, and the Second Comptroller has referred one to me of the 
same date, upon the same subject. 

It appears that, in 1829, the Board of Navy Commissioners agreed 
to allow Peter H. Green, a contractor, 12£ cents per 100 on 4,838 feet 
of timber, above the price stipulated in the contract. This allowance, 
amounting to $604.84, you paid in pursuance of that decision, on the 
15th July, 1831, and charged it in your account. 

Contracts made and filed in the Second Comptroller’s office, 
according to law, are the only legal guides to the accounting officers 
for the settlement of the contractor’s accounts; and this payment 
was disallowed to you on the sole ground that the increased price was 
not authorized by law. 

It gives me pleasure to say, that your accounts, as Navy Agent, were 
kept with great accuracy, and that there is no debit against you on the 
books of this office, except this disallowance, in your capacity as 
Navy Agent, or any other. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

Amos Kendall. 

Capt. Isaac Hull, 

Com’ng Navy Yard, Washington, D. C. 

Voucher No. 54, 3d quarter, 1831. 



344 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


F22d Congress, 


No. 6. 

Dr. THE UNITED STATES TO PETER H. GREEN. 


For amount due him on 4,838-& cubic feet live oak timber, delivered at the Navy 
Yard in Washington, on the 29th April, 1824, as appears by the certificate of James 
Carbery, inspector, approved by Thomas Tingey, at twelve and one half cents per 
cubic foot, as allowed by the Navy Board, per their letter of April 2d, 1824. 


1824. 

April 29. 66 extra moulded frame pieces for frigates No. 1 & 2. 1, 036 feet 

Beam pieces for do. No. 1. 2,142 5-12 

Do. do. No. 2. 1,660 4-12 


4, 838. 9-12 


4838^ cubic feet, at 12§ cents. $604. 84 

1831. 

June. 8 mould pieces live oak timber, delivered by Messrs. Seabury 

and Brown, 124 T 8 2 cubic feet, at 142£. 177. 65 


$782. 49 


Errors excepted: 


Peter H. Green. 


Bath, June 11, 1831. 

4 ‘Gradual increase.” 

Pay the amount of the within to the order of Joel Cruttenden. 

Peter H. Green. 


Washington, July 15, 1831. Received of Commodore Isaac Hull, Navy Agent, 
seven hundred eighty-two dollars forty-nine cents, in full of the within bill, and of all 
claims against the Navy Department, whether arising under contracts or otherwise. 
I have signed duplicate receipts. 

$782. 49. Joel Cruttenden. 


No. 7. 

Allowances, <fcc. made to Elias Kane, Esq., Navy Agent at Washington, D. C. 

For Clerk hire, office rent, fuel, &c., per annum. $1, 900. 00 

Commission on disbursements, not to exceed, per annum. 2, 000. 00 

Per annum. 3, 900. 00 

3 years and 3 months, at $3,900 per annum. 12, 675. 00 

Amount paid by the Government for clerk hire, allowed Capt. Isaac Hull 
whilst Navy Agent. 2, 969. 78 

Difference in favor of Captain I. Hull. 9, 705. 22 


No. 8. 

Navy Department, 

January 31, 1833. 

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, 
and have, as requested, perused the proposed bill and report in the 
case of Commodore Hull. 

In answer to your request for me “ to communicate any informa¬ 
tion the files or records of the Department will furnish on the sub¬ 
ject/ ; I have the honor to state, that the Naval Committee of the 

























2i> Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


345 


Senate requested of me, on the 10th instant, similar information, and 
I enclose a copy of the reply to their request. The papers are 
returned. 

I am, very respectively, Sir, 

Your obedient servant, 

Levi Woodbury. 

The Hon. G. Y. Lansing, 

Of the Naval Committee , Rouse of Rep’s. 


No. 9. 

Treasury Department, 

Fourth Auditor’s Office, 

16th Jany., 1833. 

Sir : Upon the subject of the letter of the Hon. George M. Dallas, 
chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs in the Senate, by you 
referred to me, I have the honor to report that, by an act passed 
27th March, 1804, it was made the duty of the Captain attached to 
the Naval station at Washington to discharge the duty of Navy 
Agent, and certain emoluments were allowed to him. 

From that time until November, 1813, those duties were performed 
by the Captain of the station; and it is not known that he received 
any other compensation than that prescribed by the act of 1804; but 
his accounts were all destroyed in the conflagration of 1814, and no 
means are left of ascertaining the fact. 

A regular Navy Agent was then appointed, who performed the 
duties until November, 1816, and received the regular Navy Agent’s 
commission of one per cent, not to exceed $2,000 per annum. From 
that time until 1829, most of the payments were made by a special 
agent of the Navy Department, who was also a clerk in the Fourth 
Auditor’s office, and received one per cent, on his disbursements. 
During the period Commodore Tingey drew and disbursed money, 
for which he was allowed no compensation. 

In 1829, the special agency was decided to be illegal, and the act of 
1804 still in force. The whole duty, therefore, devolved again on the 
captain of the yard, who was allowed an additional clerk at a salary 
of $1,000 per annum, and $300 more for daily attendance of his Clerk 
at the Navy Department for the payment of small claims, to enable 
him to discharge the duties of the Navy Agency. But he has been 
allowed no commission or other compensation for the performance 
of its duties, other than the emoluments prescribed in the act of 1804. 
These, however, have ceased to be special emoluments, because 
those of other stations, where no such duties are required, have since 
been raised to the same, if not a higher point. The papers are 
returned. 

Very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 


Hon. Levi Woodbury, 
Secretary of the Navy. 


Amos Kendall. 


346 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[22d Congress, 


Rep. No. 82. 

SAMUEL HAMBLETON. 

[To accompany bill H. R. No. 725.] 


February 5, 1833. 


Mr. Dearborn, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the 
following 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Samuel Hambleton, a purser in the Navy of the United States, 
respectfully report: 

That it appears the petitioner was appointed to his office in 1806, 
and has been variously employed, nearly the whole time since, in the 
discharge of his very responsible duties; and that all his accounts 
have been settled at the proper office, except a few items, amounting 
to $1,374.77, growing out of his term of employment, of three years, 
at the Navy Yard at Pensacola, which have been rejected by the 
Fourth Auditor. 

The principal items for which he claims credit are for clerk hire 
and house and office rent, as will appear by the statements, explana¬ 
tions, and letters, annexed to this report. 

On the arrival of the petitioner at Pensacola, in 1826, he found 
that his allowances were inadequate, and far below those of the agent, 
which induced him to represent his situation to the then Fourth 
Auditor, who stated to him, in a private letter, that he had laid his 
communication before the Secretary of the Navy, and was directed 
to announce that he would be allowed $950 per annum for house 
and office rent and clerk hire. In conformity to this intelligence, 
the petitioner charged that sum in his annual account, but it was not 
allowed by the present Auditor, in consequence of there not being 
any letter on record in the department authorizing such a charge. 
But the petitioner produced a letter from the Hon. Samuel L. 
Southard, who was Secretary of the Navy at the time the request 
was made for additional compensation, in which he alleges that he 
perfectly recollects the question as to house and office rent, and clerk 
hire, was submitted to him; that he gave directions on the subject, 
and that he had no cause to doubt the sums stated by the petitioner 
were those fixed by him, and communicated by the auditor ; and that, 
in deciding on the subject, he was influenced, in a great degree, by 
the situation of the Yard, and the w^ant of accommodation in it. 

The negligence of the auditor to record the order should not, in the 
opinion of the Committee, operate to the injury of the petitioner, 
provided it is clearly established that he was, in any manner, informed 
of the decision of the Secretary. 

The next considerable item is for travelling expenses from Pensa¬ 
cola to Washington, amounting to $169.65, which has been rejected 
in consequence of no order having been issued to the petitioner for 



2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


347 


his appearance at the seat of Government. But the petitioner, 
having been relieved by the appearance of another person to assume 
his station, he considered it his duty to repair to Washington, without 
delay, to settle his accounts in the usual manner; and that, having 
received similar allowances, without having been ordered to present 
himself at the Navy Department, he did not anticipate any difficulty, 
but that the same course would be pursued in this case as in all others, 
and the charge admitted. If such has been the custom, and it was his 
duty to report in person his readiness to settle his accounts, the order 
must have been a mere form, without making any substantial differ¬ 
ence as to the character of the transaction. 

The other four items, amounting to $234.28, have been rejected 
for various reasons, which, according to the rules of the department, 
appear well founded, but admit of such explanations as would warrant 
their allowance, in part at least. 

From these facts and considerations, the Committee are of opinion 
that the first and second items should be allowed to the petitioner, 
and the others settled on the principles of justice and equity; and 
therefore report a bill for his relief. 


Reconcilement of Samuel Hambleton's Account Current, dated 30th September, 1831, with 
the Office statement of his account, dated 21st October, 1831. 


Balance due to the United States per office statement. $567. 98 

Balance due to Samuel Hambleton by his account current.806. 79 


Difference between account current and office statement. $1, 374. 77 


The above difference is made as follows, viz. 

Commissions charged by Purser for paying marines—disallowed.. $24. 95 
Commissions charged by Purser for paying over the money in his 
hands belonging to the appropriation of pay, &c. of the Marine 

Corps ”—disallowed. 45. 99 

Charged by Purser for office rent and clerk hire—disallowed. 970. 84 

Charged by Purser for travelling expenses from Pensacola to Wash¬ 
ington—disallowed. 169. 65 

Charged by Purser for horse hire and boatage—suspended. 130. 00 

Charged by Purser for paying W. Sheppard, clerk to Naval Store¬ 
keeper at Pensacola—-disallowed. 33. 34 

-$1, 374. 77 


The reasons for disallowing and suspending the above charges are 
given in a reconcilement dated 12th October, 1830. 

Treasury Department, 

Fourth Auditor’s Office, 

21st Oct., 1831. 


Amos Kendall. 


*This is a mistake: the charge was not for commissions. The difference arises from 
my having paid 25 cents for undrawn rations, instead of 20 cents. ^ 

S. H. 


















348 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[22d Congress, 


Objections made by Amos Kendall , Esq. Fourth Auditor of the Treasury , to certain items 
in the accounts of Samuel Hambleton, Purser in the Navy, with answers thereto , 13th 
Oct. 1830. 


¥ 


Objections. 


Answers. 


“Error in paying Mr. 
Sheppard, clerk to Navy 
storekeeper; paid more 
than was due him 33 dol¬ 
lars and 34 cents.” 


“Error in paying ma¬ 
rines for undrawn rations; 
paid 25 instead of 20 cents 
per ration, $24.95.” 


“Charge for paying ma¬ 
rines, and paying over the 
money in your hands be¬ 
longing to the appropria¬ 
tion of pay of the Marine 
Corps, 1 per cent, no au¬ 
thority $45.99.” 


“Charge for clerk hire 
and office rent; no letter 
recorded in this office 
which authorizes such a 
charge. You must pro¬ 
duce competent authority 
for making such a charge 
before it can be allowed, 
$970.84.” 


No error can be discovered. He was allowed at the 
rate of $37.50, as paid to the clerk of Samuel T. Anderson, 
former Storekeeper. 

The present regulation of $25 per month was not then 
(2d quarter, 1827) known at the navy yard. When it is 
considered that he had no quarters, even to sleep in, and 
had to pay eighteen dollars per month for his board and 
lodging, the allowance would not perhaps be deemed 
unreasonable. I had no interest whatever in the matter. 
The account was regularly approved, and I had no right 
to question its justice or propriety. I select and send 
two receipts of his predecessor, which, with others, passed 
at your office without objection. 

There being no contract for the supply of marine 
rations, as at other yards, the private marines were fur¬ 
nished with a navy ration, just as though they had been 
on board of a ship. Some of them, by permission of the 
commanding officer, stopped drawing their rations, and 
received money in lieu of them. It was of no advantage 
to me; on the contrary, it gave me much additional labor. 
I hope I am not to suffer for regulations which I had no 
right to question or power to control. 

I had only verbal authority, which I never expected 
would be questioned. As the money did not go through 
the hands of the Navy Agent, it was thought reasonable 
that I should have as much for paying it out in small 
parcels as he would have had for paying it over to me or 
some other person in a lump, if this regulation had not 
been made. I send, herewith, a letter of the late pay¬ 
master, which refers to this per centage, which I certainly 
earned, and always considered myself entitled to. 

That no letter is recorded in your office which author¬ 
izes such a charge is no fault of mine. I have filed in 
your office an extract of a letter of the late Fourth Auditor, 
to me, on the subject, to the accuracy of which I am ready 
to swear, dated at a time (August, 1826) when no one, as 
far as I know, doubted his honor. It was not for me to 
prescribe to the Secretary the manner of making his 
decisions, nor to the Fourth Auditor the way in which he 
should communicate them. 

I wrote to the late Secretary of the Navy in October, 
1829, quoting said extract, and inquiring whether he had 
authorized the information therein given? His original 
answer is before you. I have shown that the person who 
had the authority made the allowance, which, I trust, is 
all I have to do. The charges commenced in my first ac¬ 
count and ended in my last. They were charged as allow¬ 
ances because so made, but you are much mistaken if you 
suppose they are emoluments. I paid my clerk, during 
the greater part of the three years I was at Pensacola, $600 
per annum, as I am prepared to show by his receipts. 

In all the old navy yards an office is provided for the 
Purser: this was not the case at Pensacola. The allow¬ 
ance of $200 for house rent was for a habitation, in which 
it could hardly be expected I should transact the public 
business. My successor has had two rooms assigned to 
him in the navy yard for an office, and has an allowance 
$200 per annum for house rent. I doubt not the inten¬ 
tions of the late Secretary in my favor will be allowed to 
take effect. 










2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


349 


Objections made by Amos Kendall , Esq ., Fourth Auditor of the Treasury , to certain items 
in the accounts of Samuel Hambleton, Purser in the Navy, with answers thereto, 13th 
Oct. 1830— Continued. 


Objections. 


Answers. 


“Charged for travelling 
expenses from Pensacola 
to Washington, no orders, 
$160.65.” 


“Charge for horse hire 
and boatage, suspended 
until it is ascertained 
whether or not there were 
accommodations at the 
yard $130.” 


My tour of duty did not end until I returned to the place 
it commenced, agreeably to permission from the Secretary 
of the Navy. I have repeatedly received a similar allow¬ 
ance without orders. Let one instance suffice: After 
paying off the Columbus 74, at Boston, 1821, I proceeded 
to Washington, of my own accord, and was, as a matter 
of course, allowed for travelling expenses. The regulation 
that “orders” are necessary to entitle an officer to such an 
allowance is a proper one, calculated prevent idlers from 
roaming about the country at the public expense; but 
surely the rule is not so absolute as to prevent the allow¬ 
ance of travelling expenses to one who anticipates the 
wishes of the Government, and promptly presents himself 
at the office on the termination of his cruise or assigned 
duty for settlement. I could have had an order by asking 
for it, but I wanted none. My duty was plain; I should 
not have performed it had I remained unnecessarily a day 
after I was relieved. My personal attendance at Wash¬ 
ington was necessary: it was necessary to bring home my 
account books, my duplicate vouchers, and my steward’s 
weekly returns for the expenditure of provisions, which 
could not be sent by mail, and were of too much impor¬ 
tance to me to be trusted to the care of an uninterested 
person. The charge is so reasonable and proper that I 
dout not it will be allowed by the honorable Secretary of 
the Navy. 

The fact that there were none is now understood to have 
been ascertained. 


Respectfully submitted. 
November 4, 1830. 


S. Hambleton, 

Purser. 


Authority relied on by S. Hambleton for his charge for cleric hire and 

office rent. 

Trenton, Oct. 17, 1829. 

Dear Sir: Yours of the 30th September is before me. I cannot 
recollect, particularly, the sums which I decided should be allowed 
to you, but I recollect perfectly that the question as to house and 
office rent, and clerk hire, was submitted to me, and that I gave 
directions on the subject. I see no cause to doubt that the sums 
stated to you at the time, by the then Fourth Auditor, were those 
fixed by me. In deciding on the subject, I was influenced, in a great 
degree, by the situation of the yard, and the want of accommoda¬ 
tions in it. 

I am respectfully, &c. 

Samuel L. Southard. 

S. Hambleton, Esq. 

Purser TJ. S. Navy. 














350 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[22d Congress, 


Extract of a letter from the Fourth Auditor of the Treasury to 
Samuel Hambleton, Purser U. S. Navy, stationed at Pensacola, 
dated Washington, August 21, 1826. 

“You will be allowed for the present, that is, until sufficient accom¬ 
modations are put up by the Government, $350 a year for house rent, 
<&c. and $600 a year for clerk hire; the first allowance to include your 
office.” 

A true extract. 

S. Hambleton, P. TJ. S. N. 

No such letter on the records of the Fourth Auditor’s Office. 

John C. Rives. 


Rep. No. 84. 
MOSES SMITH. 


January 15, 1833. 


Read, and laid upon the table. 


Mr. Dearborn, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the 
following 


report : 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the memo¬ 
rial of Moses Smith, respectfully report: 

That the said Smith represents, that he has made an improvement 
in the Mariner’s and surveyor’s compass needle, and also in the 
dipping needle, by which the various deviating partial magnetic 
directions are gathered to the poles of the needle, and thereby giving 
it more centrality and steadiness, while the annular and other varia¬ 
tions may be so controlled as that the needle shall designate the true 
meridian: he has likewise ascertained that, by striking the needle 
transversely, near its centre, with a metalic rod, the polarity is 
immediately restored, after having been destroyed by the firing of 
cannon, or other violent concussions. From the papers submitted 
to the Committee, it appears that the memorialist presented a peti¬ 
tion to Congress during the last session, which was referred to the 
Committee on Commerce, who reported that “the discoveries for 
which he now asks the reward of the Government” was worthy the 
patronage of the Navy Department. 

On inquiry, it has been ascertained the officers of the Navy Board 
were well satisfied the improvements of the memorialist might be 
found very useful to our national and commercial fleets, and that 
compasses had been prepared by him under the direction of the 
Secretary of the Navy, and furnished to several of the public ships 
now cruising in various parts of the world, for the purpose of testing 
the perfection of the needles, and the efficiency of the mode of restor¬ 
ing their polarity, when disturbed by violent gales, the discharge of 
cannon, or any other powerful concussion; but that reports had, as 
yet, been received from only two officers, and it was impossible to 
decide whether the alleged improvements were of sufficient conse- 




2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


351 


((uence to entitle the memorialist to compensation, for the use of his 
patent in the Navy, until returns had been made by the commanders 
of all the ships which had been supplied with the improved needles 
and apparatus for restoring their disturbed polarity, and other more 
extensive experiments made, which shall place it beyond all doubt 
that the needles prepared by the memorialist are superior to all other 
now in use. Therefore, the Committee recommend to the House, 
the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the Committee on Naval Affairs be discharged 
from the further consideration of said memorial. 


Rep. No. 86. 

JOHN PERCIVAL. 

[To accompany bill H. R. No. 731.] 


February 9, 1833. 


Mr. Anderson, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the 
following 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the peti¬ 
tion of John Percival, a Master Commandant in the Navy of the 
United States, have had the same under consideration, and report: 

That the petitioner, as he sets forth, was, in August, 1825, in com¬ 
mand of the United States’ schooner Dolphin, and was despatched 
by Commodore Hull, the commander of the United States’ squadron 
in the Pacific Ocean, on a voyage to the Mulgrave islands, to relieve 
a part of the crew of the American whale ship Globe, who had been 
there left by mutineers of that ship. That he was directed to return 
by the Sandwich islands, and, in the course of his cruise, to make 
scientific observations and discoveries, and to cultivate friendly 
relations with the natives on the various groups of islands he might 
visit. That he was absent over eleven months, and was the first 
American ship of war that ever visited the Mulgrave or Sandwich 
islands; and, to effect the object of his cruise, was put to considerable 
private expense in presents to the natives and their chiefs; without 
which presents, the delivery of the survivors of the crew of the 
Globe would not have been effected; and that all these presents 
were made in the name of the President of the United States. For 
these expenses, amounting in the whole to five hundred dollars, he 
asks remuneration. In support of his petition, the orders of Commo¬ 
dore Hull, issued, it appears, in obedience to orders from the Navy 
Department, are produced; also, the deposition of the purser as to 
the amount of the extraordinary expense the petitioner was sub¬ 
jected to in executing these orders; and go fully to sustain the claim. 

As vouchers could not be had for such expenditures, the amount 
is estimated by the petitioner and purser, under oath; and is far less 
than has been allowed to other officers, for like expenditures, who have 
subsequently visited a part only of these same islands. 



352 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[22d Congress, 


As he was absent, on this cruise, nearly a year—visited upwards 
of twenty islands, to the chiefs of which he made presents—was 
obliged to spend over two months at one island to overhaul and 
repair his vessel, the Committee are of opinion that the sum claimed 
is reasonable, and report a bill for h ‘s relief. 


To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States 
in Congress assembled: 

The Memorial of John Percival, a Master Commandant in the 
Navy of the United States, 

Respectfully slioweth: 

That, in the month of August, of the year 1825, your memorialist 
being then in command of the United States schooner Dolphin, was 
despatched by the Commander of the squadron in the Pacific, on a 
voyage to the Mulgrave islands, to relieve a part of the crew of the 
ship Globe, who had been there left by mutineers of that ship; that 
his orders directed your memorialists to return by the Sandwich 
islands, and, in the course of the cruise, to make scientific observa¬ 
tions and discoveries, and cultivate friendly relations with the 
natives on the various groupes of islands he might visit; that your 
memorialist was absent on this cruise upwards of eleven months; that 
the Dolphin was the first Government vessel which had ever visited 
the Mulgrave and Sandwich islands; and, in fulfilling his instruc¬ 
tions, your memorialist was put to considerable private expense in 
presents to the natives and their chiefs, and otherwise, and without 
making such presents, the delivery of the survivors of the Crew of 
the Globe would not have been effected. These presents were given 
in the Name of the President of the United States, as were those sub¬ 
sequently made in the visit to the other islands. 

Wherefore your memorialist prays that he may be remunerated 
for the extrordinary expenses thus incurred by him in the discharge 
of his official duty. 

J. Percival. 


List of Expenses incurred by Captain Percival, as near as can now be ascertained. 


Articles purchased on the coast of Peru, and charged by Purser Bates. 100. 00 

Calicoes, fish-hooks and clothing, &c..... 70. 00 

Two principal entertainments to the chiefs of Sandwich Islands, given on 

board the Dolphin, &c... 200. 00 

Entertainments on shore to the chiefs, and presents of wine, &c. to them; 
also extraordinary expenses of Captain Percival while on shore, when the 
Dolphin was undergoing repairs. 130. 00 


$500. 00 


J. Percival. 

United States of America, 1 gg 
Massachusetts District, J 

Boston, 11th January, 1833. 

Personally appeared Master Commandant John Percival, and made 
oath that the above list and estimate of expenses incurred by him, is 
just and true. 

Before me, Jn°. M. Davis, 

Justice of Peace, and cleric of Mass. Dist. Court. 









2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


353 


I, John A. Bates, a purser in the Navy of the United States, declare 
that I was acting purser of the United States’ schooner Dolphin, in 
the years 1825 and 1826, while under the command of Lieutenant 
Commandant John Percival, when she was despatched to the Mul¬ 
grave islands to relieve the crew of the whale ship Globe, and during 
her subsequent cruise. Before leaving the coast of Peru, by direction 
of Lieutenant Percival, I purchased numerous small articles with the 
view of their being distributed as presents among the natives of the 
various islands we might visit, and charged them to him. I have not 
preserved a particular account of all the articles so purchased; among 
others, however, I remember and find a memorandum of a charge of 
them against Lieutenant Percival, of sundry articles of jewelry and 
ornaments, beads, handkerchiefs, combs and knives, and cotton 
cloths; the amount of these was about one hundred dollars. I knew 
of Lieutenant Percival’s purchasing for the purpose above-mentioned, 
calicoes, fish-hooks, and probably other small articles, the names of 
which I cannot now recal to mind. 

On our arrival at the Mulgrave Islands, the officers despatched on 
shore were provided with these presents in order to open communica¬ 
tions with the natives, and without propitiating them in this mode, 
it was considered that our object might not have been effected. 
During our cruise we were at the Marquesas, and visited about twenty 
islands, including the Sandwich islands. At most of these islands, to 
facilitate our intercourse, presents were made by Captain Percival, of 
the articles above enumerated, as well as of articles of clothing. At 
the Sandwich islands much more expense was incurred than at any 
of the other islands; two public entertainments were given to the 
chiefs and principal natives, and it being necessary to strip the Dolphin, 
in order to her repair, Capt. Percival was obliged to take lodgings on 
shore, and remained there over two months. During this period he 
was put to considerable expense by the frequent visits of the chiefs. 
And, on the whole, I am of opinion that a sum of less than five hun¬ 
dred dollars would not indemnify him for the private expenses 
incurred and presents made as before stated, for which proper vouch¬ 
ers could not oe procured. 

John A. Bates. 

United States of America, 1 gg 
Massachusetts District, J 

Boston, 11th January, A. D. 1833. 

Personally appeared the above named John A. Bates, and made 
oath that the above affidavit by him subscribed, is true. 

Before me, 

John W. Davis, 

Justice of Peace & CVJc of Mass. Dist. Court . 


U. S. Frigate United States, 

Chorillos, August 14, 1825. 

Sir: Having received instructions from the Hon. Secretary of the 
Navy, to send one of the small vessels to the Mulgrave range, or group 
of islands, in search of the mutineers of the American whale ship 
Globe, (when the services of one of the vessels under my command 
39889—10-23 



354 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[22d Congress, 


can be dispensed with on this coast without injury to our commercial 
interests, and as there is not at this time, any immediate call for the 
services of the Dolphin under your command,) I have to direct that 
you lose no time in fitting her for sea, and in receiving on board pro¬ 
visions and stores of every kind that she may require for six months, 
the crew to consist of not more than seventy, including every person 
on board. 

The crew of the Dolphin at this time, consists of more men than she 
can stow provisions for to last six months; and, it being doubtful 
whether she can return short of that time, you will cause the crew to be 
reduced to not exceeding seventy, by transferring all over that number 
to this ship, with their accounts. You will likewise cause the accounts 
of the officers and crew of the Dolphin that remain on board to be made 
out, and all the pursers’ accounts settled, and a list furnished, showing 
the name, rank, &c. of the officers and crew that will remain in her. As 
soon as you have received on board your provisions and stores as 
directed, you will proceed, with as little delay as practicable, With the 
Dolphin under your command to the Mulgrave range, or group of 
islands, and use all the means in your power to ascertain whether the 
mutineers of the Globe are still at the islands; and should it appear 
that they are, you will use such measures as to you may appear 
best calculated to get them on board your vessel, and to secure them, 
preferring a mild and friendly course as regards the natives of the 
islands, to that of using force, to obtain them. If, however, they 
will not be given up, and you can get into your possession some of the 
chiefs of the natives and detain them, there cannot be a doubt that 
their friends will deliver those men to you, on your giving to them a 
pledge that the chiefs detained by you shall be given up. In that, 
as well as in all matters relating to the cruise, much must be left to 
your discretion and good judgment. 

That you may be made acquainted with all the circumstances 
relating to that unfortunate affair,' I have caused copies of all the 
papers on the subject, that have come to my hands, to be made out 
for your information, which are herewith enclosed. 

You will observe that the men left at the islands had with them two 
good boats and a quantity of provisions. It is therefore possible that 
they may have left the island where they first landed, and have gone 
to some other. In that case, it will be necessary for to endeavor 
to ascertain what course they took, and wdiere they probably may be 
found, and go in search of them, should it appear that your provisions 
and situation will admit of your doing so. 

Should you be so fortunate as to find those men, you will return 
with them to this station, touching at the Sandwich Islands on your 
way, provided your provisions will allow you to do so. Should, 
however your provisions run short, from the time you are necessarily 
detained in search of the men, you will return by the route that may 
be thought best to enable you to make a short passage to this coast. 

As there have been lately discovered a large number of Islands, 
reefs, and banks of coral, in the Pacific Ocean, many of which may 
lay in your route, I herewith enclose you a list of such as have come 
to my knowledge, and I need not recommend your running at all 
times with great caution, particularly at night, as you are of the impor¬ 
tance of keeping a good lookout, and of the many dangers your vessel 
will be exposed to, from the many islands and shoals not laid down on 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


355 


the charts, and particularly in the route you will probably take, say 
between the latitude 10° south, and 5 to 10° north, and the longitude 
of this place and that of the Islands you are about to visit. 

Should you, during your absence, discover islands or shoals or dan¬ 
gers of any sort, you are to be very particular in ascertaining their 
precise situation, and of islands whether inhabited or not, and whether 
they produce wood or any other articles that would offer commercial 
or any other advantage to our enterprising citizens, should they 
think proper to visit them. 

Should you determine on returning by the way of the Sandwich 
Islands, you will ascertain the state of those islands, as to the Govern¬ 
ment, and their feelings towards the citizens of the United States 
that visit them, and whether the same privileges are granted to vessels 
of the United States as to those of other nations, &c. And as the 
natives owe large sums of money, it would be desirable to ascertain 
whether the present king or individuals of the islands, who owe 
American citizens, have the means and disposition to pay their debts. 
In short I wish you to possess yourself of the best information you can 
on all subjects, the knowledge of which will be beneficial to the Govern¬ 
ment or citizens of the United States. With that view I recommend 
to your particular attention Mr. Stewart; he has resided there a long 
time, and I understand he is a man of great respectability and well 
informed, and I presume no one at the islands can give you more 
correct information on all subjects than Mr. Stewart. 

Should Mr. Stewart or any other person at those Islands have col¬ 
lected plants, seeds, or roots of any sort, that they wish to send to the 
United States, you will receive them on board, to be delivered as 
directed by them; and at all the islands that you may visit during 
your cruise, you will be very particular in collecting seeds, plants, or 
vines, as well as specimens of minerals, should you discover any 
worthy of notice. Indeed it is desirable to make your cruise useful 
independent of great object for which you are despatched. 

Wishing you a pleasant cruise, 

I remain, respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 


Isaac Hull. 


Lieut. Commandant John Percival, 

Commanding TJ. S. Sch. Dolphin. 


West Barnstable, January 17, 1833. 

Dear Sir: My friend Mr. Heed will, ere this, have presented my 
petition to Congress, for relief for expenses incurred by me while in 
the command of the United States' schooner Dolphin, on her cruise 
to the Mulgrave and other islands in the Pacific, in pursuit of the 
mutineers of the whale ship Globe. It was necessary, Mr. Anderson, 
in order to facilitate my intercourse with the chiefs and natives, to 
make them presents to induce an amicable understanding; and at the 
Mulgraves, where the survivors of that ill fated ship were found, 
I was twelve days employed in a pacific intercourse to accomplish 
their surrender without bloodshed: and subsequent information 
derived from the survivors, justified the belief, that, if I had not 
conciliated the natives in the manner I did, they would have been put 


356 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[22d Congress, 


to death; for, as they told me, there were several councils held by the 
chiefs after my arrival, to decide whether they should put them to 
death or not, when it was urged by the friends of the survivors, that, 
our conduct and liberality towards the natives, showed any thing 
rather than hostility, and that, if they were murdered, and no satis¬ 
factory account could be given, they would be punished, while on the 
other hand, if they were spared, they would plead in their favor, and 
from our pacific intercourse to those of the natives we met with, and 
our liberality, they concluded to deliver them. 

On their delivery, I felt it a duty, as well as good policy, to give 
them substantial proofs of my approbation of their conduct, to induce 
them to treat any others who might by misfortune be thrown on their 
islands, with humanity and protection. 

At the Sandwich Islands, there was, and had been, a distinction 
made by the chiefs, between our whale ships and those of the English, 
of an expense of nearly one third more to our ships than to the English. 
To do this away, it was necessary for me to obtain an influence over 
the chiefs who administered the Government; and, this could only be 
accomplished by a course of liberal entertainments to them, and by 
which I obtained an ascendency sufficient to get the obnoxious regu¬ 
lation repealed, with a solemn assurance that no advantage should 
be granted to the vessels of any nation over those of the United 
States, from that period. It should be recollected that, at this 
period, the natives of the Sandwich Islands were not, if they are now, 
in that state of civilization which they were described to be at the 
subsequent visits of the Vincennes, Captain Finch, by his chaplain, 
who is a missionary, and that the Dolphin, under my command, was 
the first vessel of war of the United States that had visited these islands 
since their discovery; and I have heard it frequently asserted by 
gentlemen who are engaged in commerce, that the visit of the Dolphin 
had a more salutary effect than any subsequent vessel which has been 
there. I enclose you the Secretary’s reply to a letter of mine, by 
which you will see that Capt. Jones, of the Peacock, received $690, 
and the last session of Congress gave Captain Finch, $5,000. To your 
justice I submit the direction of my case, and the gentlemen com- 

E osing the Naval Committee, with a full reliance that the subject will 
e treated according to its merits, and in conformity with previous 
precedents. 

Very respectfully, 

I have the honor to be, 

Your obedient servant, 


J. Percival. 


Hon. John Anderson, 

Member of Congress. 

An allusion is made to special instructions, (by the Secretary) to 
Capt. Jones; my instructions also directed me to cultivate good 
feelings and a friendly intercourse wherever I went. 


West Barnstable, Mass. October 28th, 1832. 

Sir: During a cruise in the Pacific in command of the United States 
schooner Dolphin, while visiting the Islands in pursuit of the muti¬ 
neers of the whale ship Globe, it was necessary, in order to facilitate 
my intercourse with the chiefs of the numerous islands at which I 



2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


357 


stopped, to make presents, particularly at the Mulgrave Group, where 
the principal part were bestowed, and where the survivors of that 
ill-fated ship were found, to induce the chiefs to render them without 
bloodshed, and to interest them to treat with humanity any others 
who through misfortune might be thrown on their islands. The 
articles, consisting of various descriptions, were always given as 
presents from the President of the United States, and in conformity 
with an ancient and universal usage, coeval with the discovery of the 
Islands, and practised by all navigators. On my return, I addressed 
a letter to the Department, dated December 4th, 1827, requesting 
that I might be allowed remuneration for the same, but was informed 
that there was no law to authorize the payment. I have since been 
informed that Captain Jones, of the Peacock, had been allowed com¬ 
pensation under the head of entertainments to the chiefs. For the 
truth of this I do not pretend to vouch. The difficulties with which I 
"was surrounded on my return in 1827, and which continued until last 
spring, left me no leisue to look after the subject. 

I now address you, Mr. Woodbury, as the head to which I am 
directly amenable, and the guardian and depository of my rights as 
an officer, to suggest the proper course for me to pursue if there is no 
law authorizing the payment of the same. I should consider that I 
was deviating from a proper and decorous course in applying to 
Congress for relief, without first placing the subject before you for 
your consideration; to which it is most respectfully submitted, by, 
sir, 

Your most obedient servant, 

J. Percival. 

To the Hon. Levi Woodbury, 

Secretary of the Navy, Washington. 


Navy Department, 

October 30, 1832. 

Sir: Your letter of the 28th instant has been received. Captain 
Jones had special instructions to visit islands and cultivate the 
friendship of the natives, &c., and as the Fourth Auditor has reported 
that “upon the affidavid of Captain Jones that he had expended 
$690 in entertaining and making presents to Indians, for which he 
could not obtain vouchers, it was allowed to him by Mr. Southard 
in 1828.” 

Similar claims have been made since by Captain Finch and Capt. 
Sloat; but since 1828 they have been uniformly referred to Congress. 
It is, therefore, not in the power of the Department, by its present 
rules, to make the allowance asked. 

I am, respectfully, Sir, 

Your obedient servant, 

Levi Woodbury. 

Master Condt John Percival, 

U. S. Navy, West Barnstable, Mass. 


Boston, January 18, 1833. 

My Dear Sir: I regret that I did not see you on your passing 
through this place for Washington, to thank you, in person, for the 




358 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[22d Congress, 


favors conferred upon me during my absence in the West Indies. 
I hope I may have the pleasure of seeing you on your return. I 
observe in the proceedings of Congress that a bill has been reported 
in the House of Representatives to change the pay, &c., of the officers 
of the Navy. Will you do me the favor to send me a copy, (if it has 
been printed,) and also of a report of the persons having balances 
against them on the books of the Fourth Auditor, which has been 
sent to the House. What is your opinion of the probability of this 
Navy bilks passing the House this session? 

Captain Percival has petitioned Congress for remuneration for 

E resents, &c., made to the nations of the several islands visited by 
im in the Pacific ocean, while in command of the United States’ 
schooner Dolphin, and has requested me to write to you on the sub¬ 
ject, and to solicit your influence in its favor, should you deem it 
proper to report a bill in his behalf. The petition will be referred 
to the Committee on Naval Affairs, of course. Captain Jones, whilst 
in command of the sloop of war Peacock, visited the Sandwich and 
Society Islands, and on his return made a claim upon the Navy 
Department for about 690 dollars, which was allowed him by Mr. 
Secretary Southard, upon his making a deposition of the circum¬ 
stances. Captain Finch made a similar visit in the Vincennes, and 
an appropriation was made by Congress, two years since, for his 
relief, granting him .$5,000 (I think) for presents, &c. made during 
his cruise. The Dolphin, under Capt. Percival, was the first vessel 
of our Navy that visited those island, and many presents were made 
by him which cannot now be enumerated, for no account was kept 
of the articles or their value. I have stated in a deposition, which 
accompanies the petition, that I purchased articles of jewelry, beads, 
and other ornaments, handkerchiefs, knives, and combs, and some 
other articles, which I found charged to Capt. P. in an old memo¬ 
randum book; and I am knowing to his having purchased calicoes 
and cotton cloth—all of which were made use of as presents to the 
natives. On our arrival at the Sandwich Islands an entertainment 
was given to the Chiefs, and another to the young king and chiefs, 
before our departure, to facilitate the arrangements to" be made in 
relation to the claims of American merchants against the government 
and chiefs: both of which were given at the expense of Capt. P. In 
addition to which, during our stay at Woahoo, over three months, 
he lived on shore, and was constantly receiving the visits of the 
chiefs and principal natives, which must have considerably increased 
his expenses. For all these extraordinary expenses, I think that the 
sum of five hundred dollars will not more than remunerate him. As 
the other gentlemen have been remunerated for similar expenses, 
and to a greater amount than Captain P. asks, I see no just ground 
for denying it to him; particularly, as I consider his visit to the 
Islands of as much importance to the interests of the country as 
those of any other officer who has visited the Islands since 1825, 
whatever the missionaries or their friends may say to the contrary 
notwithstanding. 

I made an application about a month since, upon the expiration 
of my leave of absence, for orders to the Navy Yard at Charlestown, 
should a vacancy occur, as I had understood^ Mr. Cox was an appli¬ 
cant for sea service; which the Secretary of the Navy informed me 
had been received and put on file. If it should occur to you, when 
you meet Mr. Woodbury, will you do me the favor to inquire what 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


359 


would be my chance of receiving orders to that situation should it 
be vacated. I am not very disirous of going to sea before next 
summer, and thought that if I could get that situation it would be 
better than remaining unemployed. If you have any public docu¬ 
ments in relation to the Navy to spare, I should be gratified to receive 
them; but please to consult your own convenience on the subject, as 
your constituents may expect your spare documents. 

Yours, most truly, 

T John A. Bates. 

Hon. John Anderson. 

P. S. I received from Mr. Watson the letters returned to you from 
the dead letter office, for which accept my thanks. 


[Rep. No. 87.] 

HEIRS OP THOMAS TRUXTON. 


February 8, 1833. 

Read, and laid upon the table. 

Mr. Watmough, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the 
following 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the memo¬ 
rial of John H. Houston, on behalf of the heirs of Thomas Truxton, 
late a Post Captain in the Navy of the United States, report: 

That, by said memorial, it appears the claimants ask to be remuner¬ 
ated, in the first instance, for the damage inflicted by the gallant 

Truxton in an action had while on the West India station, on- 

day of-, while in command of the United States’ frigate Con¬ 

stellation, on the French frigate La Vengeance; in consequence of 
which damage the French frigate subsequently fell an unresisting 
prey to a British frigate of inferior force. For this claim, your Com¬ 
mittee are clearly of opinion there exists no ground whatever. 
That the gallant commander and crew of the Constellation faith¬ 
fully performed their duty, and heroically sustained ‘the honor of 
their country’s flag, is a fact abundantly evident from the annals 
of the day, and, if need be, most fully sustained by the annexed 
document, the only evidence at present to be found on the records 
of the Navy Department on this subject. In justice to these brave 
men, your Committee beg leave to insert the same in the body of 
this report. 

B. 

Extract of a letter from the Secretary of the Navy, dated 12th 
March, 1800, addressed to Thomas Truxton, of the Constellation, 
Kingston, Jamaica. 

“Sir: I am honored with your letter of the 3d ultimo, enclosing an 
extract from your Journal, relative to your glorious action with a 






360 


REPOETS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[22d Congress, 


French ship of force greatly superior to your own, on the 2d -. 

Both the letter and the extract have been laid before the President, 
who directs me to give you the strongest assurances of his high appro¬ 
bation of your own judicious and gallant conduct, and to request 
that you will present to the officers and crew of the Constellation his 
thanks for so nobly seconding your efforts to raise the character of 
their country, and to maintain the honor of its flag.” 

It is further admitted by the memorialists, that the commander, 
his officers and crew, received the thanks of both Houses of Congress, 
and were voted gold medals in commemoration of this glorious act. 

The memorialists further claim compensation for the capture of 
the French frigate Insurgent, taken after a gallant action of — hours, 

on the — day of-, and subsequently condemned and taken 

into the service of the United States. In reference to this claim, your 
Committee be leave to submit the following letters, deemed con¬ 
clusive against it: 

(A.) 


Navy Department, July 9, 1799. 

Sir: By the decree of the Court, the Insurgent is the private prop¬ 
erty of the Captors, who may sell her to the public, or to individuals 
at private or public sale, at their pleasure. 

I cannot but think, on a full consideration of all circumstances, 
the opinion of the Court erroneous, so far as respects the comparative 
force of the Insurgent and her conquerors; and it is my opinion that 
the Superior Court, on an appeal, Would reverse the decree. 

I wish to avoid the disagreeable circumstance of a contest between 
the United States and the officers and seamen in the public service; 
and, with this view, I offer you, and the officers and seamen of the 
Constellation interested in the Insurgent, eighty-four thousand five 
hundred dollars for all your claim to that ship. 

I hope this offer will be agreeable. You know the principle upon 
which I make it, and I really think it ought to be satisfactory. I 
cannot extend it. 

If this offer should not be agreeable, then I propose that the ship 
shall be valued by competent persons indifferently chosen, and I will 
immediately pay into the hands of your agent one half the amount 
of that valuation, the property of the other half to depend upon the 
decision of the Superior Court, on an appeal which, in this case, shall 
be instituted; or it may depend upon the decision of any three or 
five of our naval commanders as to the comparative force of the 
Constellation and the Insurgent. 

I am, &c. 


Benjamin Stoddart. 


Com. Truxton. 


Navy Department, Jan y . 24, 1833. 

Sir: I have the honor, in reply to your communication of the 19th 
intant, enclosing the memorial of the heirs of Commodore Truxton, 
and to the request of Mr. John H. Houston, in behalf of said heirs, 
to furnish the following information: 

No original letters can now be found on the files of this department, 
from Commodore Truxton or other officers, relating to the capture 





REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


2d Session.] 


361 


of the French frigate Insurgent by the United States’ frigate Con¬ 
stellation, nor to the action with the Vengeance. 

The annexed copy of a letter (A.) from this department, of 9th 
July, 1779, will show that the Insurgent condemned as the property 
of the captors, and that the then Secretary of the Navy offered them 
$84,500, which, from the charge of that sum on the books of the 
accountant of the Navy for her purchase, appears to have been 
accepted by them. 

The prize law of the 2d of March, 1799, was in existence at the time 
of the condemnation of the Insurgent, but passed subsequent to her 
capture. 

The enclosed extract (B.) of a letter from the Secretary of the Navy, 
of 12th March, 1800, contains all the information which the records 
of this department furnish relative to the action withe Vengeance. 

For further information upon the subject, I refer you to pages 130 
and 166 of the “Naval Chronicle/’ published in 1824, as containing 
particulars of the actions with those vessels, extracted from the 
letter and journal of Commodore Truxton. 

The letters generally from captains of ships of war, prior to 1805, 
have been either lost or destroyed. 

The captors of the Macedonian were paid 200,000 dollars, under 
a decree of the District Court of New York, which declared them to 
be entitled to the whole value of the vessel, &c. 

The relative force, in a legal sense, of the Insurgent and Constella¬ 
tion, and Macedonian and United States’ frigates, was determined by 
the respective decrees in those cases, from which it would appear 
that the contending vessels were of equal, if not superior force, so 
far as regards the enemy. 

The memorial, as requested, is herewith returned. 

I am, very respectfully, Sir, 

Your obedient servant, 

Levi Woodbury. 

The Honorable John G. Watmough, 

Of the Naval Committee, House of Representatives. 

All which being respectfully submitted, your Committee ask to bf 
discharged from the further consideration of the same. 


[Rep. No. 108.] 

THOS. AP. C. JONES. 

[To accompany bill H. R. No. 752.] 


February 25, 1833. 


Mr. Patton, 
lowing 


from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol- 
report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the Memo¬ 
rial of Thomas Ap. C. Jones, a captain in the Navy of the United 
States, having had the same under consideration, report : 



362 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[22d Congress, 


That it appears, to their satisfaction, that Captain Jones, in an 
action with the enemy during the late war, in which he commanded a 
number of gunboats as lieutenant commandant, and encountered an 
overwhelming force of the enemy, received a severe gun-shot wound 
from a ball passing through and destroying the joint of the left 
shoulder, causing a permanent, though partial disability; which 
imposes upon him constant and increased expense, from the necessity 
of employing, and keeping about his person, an additional servant to 
assist him even in the ordinary office of dressing and undressing. 

It also appears, that, immediately after his first return from New 
Orleans, (in the neighborhood of which the actiofi was fought,) viz: 
on the 18th of July, 1815, he applied, in person, at the Navy Depart¬ 
ment, to be admitted on the roll of Navy pensioners under the act of 
Congress, passed the 23d April, 1800; and, at that time, deposited 
with the proper officer full evidence of his having been wounded, and 
of the extent and kind of disability occasioned thereby. According 
to this evidence, it is stated by Captain Jones, that his pension was 
to be rated at 25 dollars per month, being one-half the monthly pay 
of lieutenant commanding; and he alleges that he is subjected, by 
reason of his disability, to an extra expense of from 15 to 25 dollars 
per month. 

This testimony, consisting of a certificate of the surgeon, counter¬ 
signed by the commandant of the New Orleans’ station, was placed 
in the possession of the then Chief Clerk of the Navy Department, 
and Secretary to the Commissioners of the Navy Pension Fund. 
The application was not then acted on, in consequence of the absence 
of the Secretaries of the Navy and of the Treasury. The memorialist, 
about this time, was employed on a foreign station, and three years 
elapsed before he could revive his application. It was not at that 
time successful, in consequence of a difference of opinion between the 
Commissioners of the Pension Fund as to the proper construction of 
the law as applicable to the case of the memorialist. 

The question as to the right of Captain Jones to be placed on the 
pension roll was not decided on until July, 1828, when he was declared 
to be so entitled, and he was allowed at the rate of $10 per month, 
and that made to begin on the 14th of February, 1828, which was the 
date of the application which then acted on, and which the Commis¬ 
sioners who made the decision in his favor, as is supposed, took to be 
the first application he had made. It appears that, at this time, the 
evidence he had filed at the time of his original application had been 
mislaid or lost, and has never since been recovered. 

Captain Jones was dissatisfied with this decision, both as to the 
amount of pension and the date from which it was to be estimated, 
and urged a reconsiderstion of his claim; and, on the 15tli November, 
1831, the Commissioners of the Navy Pension Fund decided to increase 
the pension to be allowed Captain Jones, to 20 dollars per month, and 
ordered a certificate to issue accordingly, but refused to allow the 
arrears from the date of the first application, on the 18th July, 1815. 

The Committee are of opinion that the construction which was given 
to the law by the Commissioners of the Navy Pension Fund in 1828, 
and confirmed by those who increased the amount of it in 1831, is the 
true construction, and the only one which is consistent with the letter 
and spirit of the law. 

As the failure to make an earlier decision on the claim, and to grant 
the pension to which the Committee think, and the Commissioners of 


2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


36a 


the Navy Pension Fund, on two occasions, have decided that he was 
entitled, cannot, in any degree, be imputed to Captain Jones, as the 
evidence on which his original application was founded has been lost 
or mislaid, without any fault of his, after having been, by him, placed 
in possession of the proper officer. The Committee are of opinion, 
that sheer justice requires that he should now be paid what he would 
have received if his claim had been originally granted, to commence 
from the date of his original application; and, for that purpose, they 
report a bill.— 


Rep. No. 117. 

OFFICERS OF THE MARINE CORPS. 
[To accompany bill H. R. No. 756.] 


February 26, 1833. 

Mr. Watmough, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the 
following 

report: 

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the memo¬ 
rial of L. Twiggs, a captain of the United States’ Marine Corps, as well 
for himself as others, report: 

That, having duly examined the same, the Memorialists claim the 
same allowances of pay and rations as, by the act of March 2d, 1827, 
are granted to Captains and subalterns of the army of the United 
States, on the ground that they are “governed by the same regula¬ 
tions while doing duty on shore; perform the same duties, and are 
under the same responsibilities with respect to clothing, arms, and 
accoutrements of the respective detachments or posts, that may be 
under their command, as captains of the army of the United States 
are under while in actual command;” and, further, that they believe 
“that Congress, in establishing the marine corps, designed to place 
the officers of said corps on the same footing with officers of like grade 
in the army, as respects pay and emoluments,” &c. &c., your commit¬ 
tee can see no reason why the law of 2d March, 1827, should not be 
made applicable to the officers of the Marines. It is certain they are 
subject to the same rules and regulations while acting on shore; are 
at all times subject to the like expense, and frequently to greater, 
when on foreign stations; and are liable to the same responsibilities 
with respect to clothing, arms, and accoutrements, as the officers of 
the army of the United States. Their duties are certainly not less 
arduous; and, it is believed, have ever been fulfilled with equal credit 
to themselves and honor to the country; while, on many points of 
paramount importance to the soldier and man of honor, their advan¬ 
tages fall far short of those which are extended to similar grades in the 
army. The principle, then, being admitted of their title to the claim 
urged of admission to an equal footing with officers of like grades in the 



364 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[22d Congress, 


army, it is believed that no argument can be brought to bear against 
their right to the back pay and allowances which have been allowed to 
the officers of the army under the act above referred to. 

Your Committee, therefore, ask leave to introduce a bill. 


[Rep. No. 123.] 

NAVAL PENSIONS AND NAVY PENSION FUND. 


March 2, 1833. 

[To accompany bill H. R. No. 751.] 

Mr. Watmough, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the 
following 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred several 
petitions of Emma Thompson, widow of the late Charles Carter Boyd 
Thompson, a Post Captain in the Navy of the United States, and of 
Mrs. Rodgers, widow of Captain George W. Rodgers, also late a Post 
Captain in the Navy of the United States, begs leave to report: 

That, by the terms of the first memorial, it appears that Emma 
Thompson is the widow of the late Captain Thompson of the Navy, 
and that, by the untimely death of the said Capt. Thompson, she has 
been left with one child, a daughter, in a state of utter destitution. 

The character of Captain Thompson was early established and well 
known: his services had been of the most distinguished grade. 
Having entered the Navy as early as 1802, he bore an active and 
highly meritorious part in the brilliant war with the Barbary Powers, 
a war which will be ever memorable in the annals of the world. In 
1814, T5 we find him engaged in the campaign of New Orleans, and, 
from the efficiency' of his command and the peculiar position he occu¬ 
pied, there is no doubt that a large portion of the honor which 
redounded to all engaged in the defence of that place, is justly due to 
him. On this service he was severely wounded. It does not clearly 
appear that his death, which occurred in 1832, can be directly traced 
to this wound. There is, however, no doubt that he suffered from it 
long and severely, and that, notwithstanding he never ceased to sus¬ 
tain his reputation as a devoted and patriotic officer, in the fulfilment, 
with honorable fidelity, of every duty he owed the service and his 
country. Your Committee, considering all these circumstances, and, 
further, the peculiarly painful and destitute condition of his wife and 
child, and believing that the solemn duty of protecting, from the unre¬ 
lenting grasp of poverty, the widow and the orphan of the brave man 
who has spent his days in axious toil for the honor of his country, 
devolves upon, and in justice to ought to be assumed by that country, 
free, happy, and prosperous as she is; beg leave, therefore, to submit 
to the House for adoption, a bill, by way of amendment to the act of 



2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


365 


June, 1832. It is intended to meet the ease, not only of Mrs. Thomp¬ 
son, but also that of Mrs. Rodgers, a petitioner, under like circum¬ 
stances, and it is confidently hoped that it will be found sufficient to 
provide for all other cases that may arise during the period for which 
said law may be in force. 

It is not deemed material to state more in reference to Mrs. Rodgers’ 
petition than that her claim comes before the House equally sub¬ 
stantiated with Mrs. Thompson’s, by the highly distinguished charac¬ 
ter and long tried and faithful services of her husband. It is further 
sustained by the fact that she has been left, by the death of her hus¬ 
band, in a state of great poverty, the widowed mother of six helpless 
children. 

In the second section of the proposed bill, your Committee provide 
the means to meet the additional demands now brought against the 
navy pension fund, at present inadequate to the purpose; and, by 
that section, they propose to discharge a debt, believed to be founded 
on every principle of justice and equity, due from the country to that 
fund. 

The facts are as follows, to wit: 

By a reference to the annual reports of the Commissioners of Navy 
Pensions, for many years back, it will be seen that the Commissioners 
of the Navy Pension Fund, thought proper to invest in the stock of the 
Bank of Columbia an amount of said fund equal to 99,502 T 6 o% dollars. 
Several years ago, this institution failed, and it was soon ascertained 
to be utterly insolvent. Its whole assets, however, have gone into 
the public Treasury. In the general wreck of the affairs of that bank 
this large amount was sunk; and from the period of its insolvency to 
the present, so much of said fund is annually reported to be deficient 
and altogether unavailable. Your Committee cannot see upon what 
principle of justice this state of affairs should be permitted to con¬ 
tinue. In assuming the trust reposed in it by the act of Congress, 
the Government fairly assumed all the responsibilities which that trust 
involved. In the performance of that trust, serious detriment arose 
to the fund, and lamentable injury to its proprietors. In stating this 
fact, which cannot be denied, it is not intended to impute it as a 
criminal matter on the part of the trustees. It is, however, intended 
to place in the clearest light the injustice as well as impolicy, on the 
part of the country, of permitting an injury affecting so deeply the 
private rights and conveniences of a large and meritorious class of her 
citizens, to remain unatoned, and to urge the obligation to repair a 
loss inflicted, no matter from what cause, which is proven, by subse¬ 
quent events, so materially to operate against the most unprotected 
class of society—the widows and orphans of the very men by whose 
heroic deeds this fund was first established. 

Your Committee have, therefore, made provision in the bill, which 
is herewith reported, for restoring to the Navy Pension Fund, the 
amount lost by the defalcation of the Bank of Columbia. 


Navy Department, 

22d February, 1833. 

Sir: Your letter of the 21st instant, requesting, on the part of the 
Naval Committee of the House of Representatives, information 


366 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


[22d Congress, 


respecting the funds belonging to the Navy pension fund, invested in 
stock of the Bank of Columbia, has been received. 

The investments of Navy pension funds in this stock were made at 
several periods, commencing on the 16th August, 1809, and terminat¬ 
ing on the 8th May, 1819, and amount to $99,502 1 6 oV 

The Bank of Columbia became embarrassed in its operations, and 
no dividends were made by the directors after the 20tli March, 1823. 
The dividend declared at that time was not paid until the 10th day of 
April, 1828. 

In regard to the prospect of recovering this money, or any part of 
it, from the enquiries which have been made none is believed to exist. 
The whole amount invested is believed to be entirely lost, in conse¬ 
quence of the insolvency of the bank. Among the papers of the 
former Commissioners of the Navy Pension Fund no records are to be 
found to afford the information you request in regard to the authority 
by which those investments were made; but, from verbal information 
obtained from a former Secretary of the Fund, it is understood that 
the authority to make investments usually proceeded from either the 
Commissioners or from their Secretary; and the authority was some¬ 
times given in writing and sometimes verbally. 

I am, Sir, very respectfully, 

Your most obedient servant, 

Levi Woodbury. 

Hon. Jno. G. Watmough, 

Of the Naval Committee, Ho. of Reps. 


[Rep. No. 124.] 

E. R. SHUBRICK. 

[To accompany bill H. R. No. 759.] 


March 2, 1833. 


Mr. Anderson, of Maine, from the Committee on Naval 
made the following 


report: 


Affairs, 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of Captain E. R. Shubrick, of the United States’ Navy, have had the 
same under consideration, and report: 

That, in March, 1832, said Shubrick, being then in command of the 
United States’ ship Vincennes, on the Pensacola station, was ordered 
by the Secretary of the Navy to receive on board said ship, R. M. 
Harrison, Esq., American consul at Kingston, Jamaica, and family, 
and to carry them to said Kingston. That said consul and family 
were furnished with suitable maintenance during the voyage, which 
lasted about one month, at the sole expense of said Shubrick, for which 
he never has received remuneration from the Consul or the Govern- 



2d Session.] 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 


367 


ment. For this extra expense, incurred in the public service, said 
Shubrick prays to be indemnified; and the Committee are of opinion 
that he is entitled to a just remuneration, but not to the sum he 
claims. The petitioner claims, for supplies thus furnished, the sum 
of thirteen hundred dollars; which, as the Consul’s family consisted 
only of his wife, four childred, and a servant, and the time on board 
stated about one month, the Committee are of opinion is much 
greater than the extra expenses he thereby incurred. Believing, 
however, that his actual expenses ought to be defrayed, the Com¬ 
mittee report a bill authorizing the Secretary to settle said account 
on principles of equity. 


[Rep. No. 126 .] 
JOHN McKIM. 


March 2, 1833. 


Read, and laid upon the table. 


Mr. Patton, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the fol¬ 
lowing 


report: 


The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the petition 
of John McKim, and the accompanying documents, having considered 
the same, report: 

That this claim was first presented during the 2d session of the 21st 
Congress, and referred to this Committee, who, after inquiry made at 
the Navy Department, and in consequence of the statements made 
by Col. Henderson, commander of the Marine Corps, made an unfavor¬ 
able report upon the petitioner’s claim. This report will be found 
recorded among the reports of the Committees of that session of 
Congress, and is No. 105, to which the Committee now refer, and make 
a part of this report. At the beginning of the last session of Congress, 
the claim was again presented, together with some testimonials in 
behalf of Sergeant McKim’s fidelity and good conduct as a soldier, 
and his integrity as a man, highly creditable to him. These testi¬ 
monials are also designed to controvert the statements made by 
Colonel Henderson in some particulars; and certainly, in some respects, 
are inconsistent with those statements. It does not appear that the 
committee made any report during the last session, though, from an 
endorsement on the petition, it would seem that they agreed to the 
former report. 

This Committee, however, have again considered the claim; and are 
of opinion that the prayer of the petition ought not to be granted. 
The extra services, for which compensation was, for the first time, 
claimed in 1831, were rendered from the year 1815 down to the year 
1830. During all this time, it does not appear that Mr. McKim made 



368 


REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. [22d Cong., 2d Sess.] 


any claim for additional pay or remuneration for them, as services 
which his station did not devolve upon him; nor does it appear that 
any such compensation was promised by his officers, or contemplated 
by himself. During this time he received his pay as Sergeant, and 
enjoyed the lucrative situation of itler. After having thus volun¬ 
tarily, and without complaint c r injury, or demand for compensation, 
continued to perform these se* ices for 15 years, the Committee are 
of opinion that it is unreasonable now to require payment, in a new 
and wholly different character, from those in which he has so long 
received compensation, and with which he was himself so long satis¬ 
fied. To grant this petition under such circumstances, would open 
too wide a door for extra compensation, and would admit every one 
who, in the land and naval or civil service of the country, are called 
on to perform, as must very frequently happen, duties which do not 
strictly appertain to their immediate station; and, in short, it would 
have the effect, in innumerable instances, of requiring Congress to 
pay the officers of the Government, who hold lucrative situations, the 
salaries for two, and perhaps more, offices at the same time. These 
salaries are, in general, sufficient, and even liberal, in some cases, and 
ordinarily, if not always, where an officer is required to perform other 
duties than those of his station, he must necessarily, to a propor¬ 
tionate degree, be relieved from the performance of those which belong 
to his own station; and although, in some cases, the new duties which 
he is called on to perform may be more onerous, and in many other 
instances, they are lighter, and less burdensome. The Committee are 
therefore opinion that, in no case in which duties are undertaken, 
or their impostion acquiesced in, without claim for compensation 
promised or demanded, and especially when, as in this case, these 
duties are performed for a series of }^ears without complaint, ought 
Congress to make any extra allowance. 

They therefore recommend that the following resolution be 
adopted: 

Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted. 

Note. —For Report referred to, see page 380 of this volume. 


vje 




INDEX.. 


A. 

Original Print 

manuscript. copy. 

Allen, Thomas J. 15 15 

Armstrong;—Officers & Crew of Privateer. 27 25 

Allen, on the expediency of allowing to the Mother & Sister of the 
late. Lt. Wm. H. Allen, a pension. 


Acken, Wm. D. 

Abuses—Naval Service. 

B. 

Bounty to Merchant vessels,— recapture. 

Bounty to privateers for destroying enemy’s shipping. 

Brown, Anne. 

Barney’s Flotilla men. 

Brooke, Samuel B... 

Bassett, James & Jarius Loomis.. 

Bulgin, James M. 

Baldwin, Hannah M. 

Barry & Hodge. 


Babit, Fitz Henry—Mother of. 


C. 

Officers Frigate Constitution, rewarding. 

Constitution Frigate—Rewarding Officers of 

Champlin, Stephen. 

Creighton relating to Cap*. J. O. 


Communication across the Isthmus of Panama. 

Claxton, Alexander. 

Claiborne, Augustin—Ex r . of Angus C. Frazer. 


135,144 

109,117 

282,196 

160, 232, 
243 

282,236 

196,232 

.. 386 

316 

.. 417 

339 

1 

3 

1 

3 

4 

6 

11 

13 

35 

33 

36 

34 

45 

39 

56 

51 

84 

78 

.. 166 

134 

.. 167 

135 

.. 174 

141 

.. 178 

145 

.. 187 

152 

.. 195 

160 

.. 197 

161 

.. 211 

173 

.. 217 

179 

281,226 

188, 231 

.. 284 

233 

,238,295 

5,198, 
241 

.. 324 

265 

.. 382 

312 

.. 412 

334 

5 

7 

12 

13 

23 

21 

27 

35 

.. 145 

118 

165 

133 

.. 173 

140 

.. 177 

144 

.. 205 

168 

.. 229 

190 

338, 297 

244,277 

.. 299 

246 

.. 324 

265 


39889—10-24 


369 















































370 


INDEX. 


Church, Thomas. 

Carusi, Gaetano. 

Cannon, Joseph S. 

Coleman, John. 

Crabb, Horatio N. 

Driscoll, William. 

Denney, Penelope. 

Duncan, Jonas.. 

D. 

Original 

manuscript. 

. 339 

. 349 

. 351 

. 403 

. 415 

. 4 

. 324,193,161,139 

. 163 

Print 

copy. 

277 

287 

288 
327 
337 

6 

113,130, 
157, 265 
131 

Drew, Sarah. 


. 170 

138 

Duncan, Silas, Lieut. 


. 194 

158 

Decatur, Susan & others. 


.... 200,240 & 291,412 

164, 200, 
238, 334 

Docks (Dry). 


. 220,269 

181, 223 

Douty, Thomas. 


. 224 

186 

Davis, Isaac P. 


. 240 

199 

Destruction of the frigate Philadelphia 


. 240-291 

200, 238 

Dix, Ellen. 

E. 

Elbert. 

. 324 

265 

Elbert (Mrs.) widow of the late Lieut. 

. 158 

128 

Explore South Seas. 


. 292 

239 

Eckford, Henrv. 


. 347,306 

251,285 


F. 


Farr, W m & Jii° Maxwell. 


. 20 

19 

Flannigain & Parsons. 


. 26 

24 

Fernald, Abigail. 


. 57 

52 

Frigate Phil a . Seamen of. 


. 187,291 

152,238 

Forman, James. 


. 268 

222 


G. 

f 


Grubb, Catharine. 

' 

. 168 

136 

Gale, Anthony. 


. 301,168,189 

136,154, 



247 

Gamble, Frances W. C. 


. 185 

150 

Gilmore, David. 


.. 186 

151 

Glen, Elias. 


. 188 

153 

Gamble, John M. 


. 190 

155 

Gamble, Frances. 


. 215 

177 

Gradual increase of the Navy. 


. 225 

186 

Gardner, John. 


. 293 

240 

Gillin, William. 


. 299 

245 

Gardner, Sophia. 


. 385 

315 

Goorley, David. 


. 411 

333 


H. 


Hodgkinson, Anne. 

. 1 

4 

Henly, John D. 

. 9 

11 

Hospital at Richmond—Marine. 

. 22 

20 

Heath, Cap 4 . John, Marine Corps, relating to. 

. 37 

35 

Hospitals, Naval. 

. 151 

122 

Hooker, Samuel F. 

. 151 

123 

Hodge, Ann. 

. 157,183 

127,148 

Hidden, Enoch. 

. 171 

139 

Hayre, Francis. 

... 213 

175 

Hussey, Anth y . Adm r . of Jos. Rowe, dec d . 

. 404 

328 

Harris, John, dec d . Heirs of. 

. 408 

331 

Hull, Isaac—Capt. 


340 

Hambleton, Samuel—Purser. 

. 426 

346 

Houston, John H. & others, Heirs of Thomas Truxton. 

. 444 

359 




















































INDEX. 


I. 


Inhabitants of Barnstable Mass . 


Jenkins, Weston & al. 


J. 


K. 


Kenrich, John. 


L. 


Low, Jonathan, Jun r 


——-* ~- 

Ligon, Wm. B. 


Live Oak. 


M c Cauley, John.t. 

Maxwell, John & W m Farr. 

Marine Hospital at Richmond. 

Merrill, James. 

Monteath, Caroline. 

Marine Hospitals—relating to 

Marine Railway. 

Montgomery, Hannah. 

Mellers, William. 

M c Keever, Isaac, Lieut. 

M c Elroy, Archibald. 

Marine Corps, Increase of. 


M c Donald, Alexander. 

Marine Corps—Officers of the. 


M. 


N. 


Naval Agents, relating to. 

Navy pension fund—relating to the.. 

Naval expenditures, on reducing. 

Navy Commissioners—Relating to the Board of. 

Navy, reducing Seamen. 

Naval stores, relating to. 

Navy, modification of the act for the gradual inc 
Naval peace establishment. 

Naval 


peace esu 
Hospitals 


“ Baltimore. 

“ Narraganset Bay, R. I. 
‘ ‘ River Thames, Conn.. 



371 

Original 

Print 

lanu script. 

copy. 


4 

.. 229 

190 


4 

376, 447 

308, 361 

60 

65 

. 152,88 

82,123 

150 

122 


123 

.. 176 

143 

.. 324 

265 

395, 371 

304, 321 

4 

6 

. 344.36 

34, 282 

161,143 

116,129 

190 

154 

222 

183 

339, 294 

240, 278 

.. 324 

265 

.. 388 

317 

.. 400 

325 

12 

13 

20 

19 

22 

20 

55 

50 

56 

52 

. 151,74 

69,122 

.. 154 

124 

.. 184 

150 

.. 204 

167 

.. 212 

174 

.. 216 

177 

.. 221 

182 

338,285 

234, 276 

454, 380 

311,367 

.. 407 

331 

.. 449 

363 

46 

42 


46 

57 

53 

71 

65 

79 

73 

94 

86 

.. 130 

105 

140 

113 

.. 151 

122 

d 1 . 


.. 180 

146 

.. 207 

170 

.. 208 

171 

.. 209 

171 

.. 209 

172 

.. 210 

172 

.. 225 

186 






















































372 


INDEX. 


Original Print 

manuscript. copy. 


Navy—Surgeons of the. 227 188 

Navy Hospital Fund. 302 248 

Navy Pension Fund. 361, 313 257, 296 

Naval Service—Abuses in the. 417 339 

Naval Pensions and Navy Pension Fund. 450 364 

O. 

Officers Frigate Constitution—Rewarding. 5 7 

D° D° D° D° . 12 13 

Officers, Relating to the conduct of certain Naval. 37 35 

O’Connor, Sarah. 171 138 

Oliver, Isabella. 183 149 

Officers of the Marine Corps. 449 363 

P. 

Parsons & Flannigain. 26 24 

Perry, Cap*. 0. H.—relating to. 217,37 35,178 

Protection to the property and Citizens of the U. S. in the Gulf of 

Mexico & West India seas. 90 83 

Powder Magazines, relative to the purchase of two in Brooklyn NY.. 156 127 

Pearce, case of the widow & child of Lt. George Pearce, deceased_ 139 112 

Perry, Sarah. 143,164 116,132 

Piracy—Means for the suppression of. 180 

Philadelphia Frigate, seamen of. 187 152 

Phillips, Isaac. 198 162 


X lillOiUvlpilld UvOU UC tlvli vl . ^ IV* X. X- u a j 

200, 238 

Panama—Communication across the Isthmus of. 229 190 

Privateer Pension Fund. 341,309 254,279 

Pay—Capt s . & Mast 8 . Commd g . 352 289 

Percival, John.:. 433 351 

R. 

Roberts, Joseph G. 3,147 6,120 

Rogers, John & al. 10 12 

Ryer, John M. 20 18 

Reid, Samuel C. & al. 27 25 

Russell, John. 56 50 

Reid, Samuel C. & al. 70 64 

Robinson, Tho 8 . C. 73 67 

Rudd, Stephen. 146 119 

Railway, Marine. 154 124 

Reed, Catharine. 169 137 

Randolph Rich d . Bland. 172 140 

Roe, Peter. 184 149 


XVO/J , vjiana, vvmvw tv m. xiajr. xav/, ^cix, 

265,380 

Rowe, Jos. dec d . See Anth y . Hussey. 404 328 

Reynolds, John G. 415 337 

S. 

Sturges, William. 11 12 

Seamen, (Barney’s Flotilla). 11 13 

S 4 Clair, Arthur, for self & crew. 18 17 

Stevenson, Geo. N. 1 3 

Shields, Thomas. 43 40 

Shields, Thomas. 49 & 45 41, 45 

Snelson, Robert. 56 54 

Shields, Thomas. 74 68 

Stevens, John.1. 76 71 

Spearing, James. 88 81 

Sloops of War (10 additional). 162 130 

Springer, Mary Ann. 167 135 

Sullivan, Jn°. L. & John Thomas. 219 180 





















































INDEX, 


373 

Original Print 

manuscript. copy. 

Surgeons of the Navy. 227 188 

Smith, Frederick W., Lt. 238 197 

Stewart, Cha 8 . & others. 291 238 

Sillock, Joseph, Guardian of the infant children of Caleb Crew. 324 265 

Sellers, Susan. 337 276 

Scrivener, James. 402 326 

Smith, Moses. 432 350 

Shubrick, E. R. 453 366 

T. 

Tonnage duty in the ports of Mobile & Blakely, Ala., for the benefit of 

sick & disabled seamen. 158 128 

Thompson, William. 224,206,90 83, 

169,185 

Thompson’s Island or Key West, fortifying of. 150 122 

Townsend, William. 179 145 

Tillinghast, Daniel H. 207 169 

Townsend, Seth. 214 175 

Thomas, John & Jn°. L. Sullivan..'. 219 180 

Thorn, Charlotte M. R. 324 265 

Truxton, Thomas—Heirs of. 444 359 

W. 

Ware, James. 19 18 

Warren, James. 50 45 

Warren, James. 85 79 

Wise, Catharine (widow of G. S. W). 193,188 153,158 

Wade, Zebulon. 225 187 

Wells, Eleanor... 324, 267 221,265 

Whitehead, Elizabeth. 324,283 233,265 

Wilkinson, Jesse. 286 235 

Wills, Eleanor. 324 265 

Wilkes, Charles Jr. Lieut. 345 282 

Watson, John. 383 313 

Y. 

Young, Catharine. 169,25 23,137 

Young, Edward S. 205 168 

Z. 

Zantzinger, Wm. P. 413 335 


o 

























































































































. 



































































































































